CALCUTTAL, June, 25, India; More than 30,000 Hindus and Moslems clashed over worship rights to shrine, killing eight people and injuring nearly 100 in India’s West Bengal state, police said on Saturday.
Police said they sealed off the riot hit Berhampur area, about 200 km north of Calcutta, after Hindus and Moslems armed with homemade bombs and knives clashed on Friday.
Railway authorities were ordered not to stop trains there.
- Krishnamurthy, a senior state official, said: “Katara Mosque had been declared an historical monument by the archaeological survey of India in 1910.and no community has any rights over it”.
However, Hindus claimed it was not a mosque but a temple and threatened to take over the building.
On Friday, thousands of Hindus and Moslems, ignoring a ban on public assemblies, marched to the building and battled each other with knives and bombs.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 1, 1988
