INDIA, Gujarat (voa) – Nearly three hundred people have now died in three days of Hindu-Muslim clashes in India’s western state of Gujarat.
The latest incident occurred Friday in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district, where 30 people were killed when Hindu attackers burned a Muslim village, Pandarvada. At least ten other people were killed in nearby clashes.
Early Friday, a Hindu mob set fire to a Muslim shantytown on the outskirts of the state’s largest city, Ahmedabad, killing more than 50 people as they slept.
The clashes began Wednesday in the town of Godhra when Muslim militants set fire to a train, killing 58 mostly-Hindu activists.
Army troops are still being deployed around the state in an effort to stop the violence. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has appealed to Hindus and Muslims to be calm and has vowed to crack down on the rioters. More than 1,300 people have been arrested since the violence started on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Indian authorities have diverted rail traffic away from the northern city of Ayodhya and neighboring city Faizabad to prevent Hindu activists from building a temple in Ayodhya on land also claimed by Muslims. The World Hindu Council says its Hindu Volunteers will start building the temple on March 15, unless the government allows it to erect two holy pillars near the disputed site. New Delhi has not responded to the proposal.
In 1992, about 3,000 people were killed in sectarian riots after Hindus razed a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya.
