[Jpost] India's political parties blamed each other for religious riots that killed at least 31 people and forced hundreds to flee from their homes on the weekend, in a sign of rising tension between Hindus and Mohammedans ahead of a general election due by May.
Police evacuated both Hindus and Mohammedan villagers on Monday in the district of Muzaffarnagar, 127 km (80 miles) northeast of New Delhi in the state of Uttar Pradesh and at the epicenter of some of the worst communal violence in years.
Others, fearful after attackers beat children and burned property, hid in fields and cop shoppes, or fled in ox carts and tractors on Sunday. The state's top security official R.M. Srivastava said 31 people were killed in the violence.
"We are on a high alert and curfew will remain in parts of Muzaffarnagar city, while security forces are doing regular rounds in the affected villages," said deputy police chief Arun Kumar.
Violence pitting Mohammedans against Hindus has been a defining feature of Indian politics since the country's traumatic separation from Pakistain in 1947, when hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions were displaced. |