PATNA: The town of Bhagalpur in Bihar saw a bloody communal massacre. British Broadcasting Corp. staffer Satish Jacob reported that over 1,000 Muslims had been slaughtered in cold blood. Hundreds of bodies were seen floating down the Ganges river and scores were found in a college compound well. The center of the town has been completely razed by mobs. Relief operations were stepped up and the army and paramilitary forces continued their flag marches to restore normalcy, PTI adds.
Bhagalpur, which has been tacked by communal violence, has been under curfew since Tuesday last week. The violence has sparked off when a mob tried to block a religious procession. This led to street fighting and arson that soon spread to the rural interior of the state.
Authorities called out army troops and Para Military forces after police failed to quell large scale mob violence. The state government Friday banned all religious processions.
The ruling Congress (1) party, led by Rajiv Gandhi, and the opposition parties have traded charges blaming each other for engineering the riots.
It is now more or less certain that the poll to the lower House of Indian Parliament would be held in Bhagalpur along with the polls on November 22.
Former state Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad of the ruling Congress(1) is pitted against four others, including Janata Dal’s Chunchun Yaday, in the constituency. The official toll varies from 195 to 295 dead.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 10, 1989
