NEW DELHI, India, June 27, Reuter: Hundreds of police patrolled the Western Indian city of Baroda today after two people were killed when police fired to stop battle between Hindus and Moslems.
Shops were closed and police manned roadblocks after about 200 Hindus battled with about the same number of Moslems in “sensitive areas” of the city of 700,000, Superintendent M.H. Chandra said.
He said police fired a total of 16 rounds last night and today. One of those killed was, a woman.
The situation was returning to normal but about 500 people were patrolling the streets around the clock to prevent further incidents, he said.
Warring groups threw stones at each other last night and a house was set ablaze this morning in a part of the city with an equal number of Hindu and Moslem residents, he said.
Sixty percent of Baroda’s population is Hindus, while Moslems make up 20 percent. The former capital of a wealthy princely state is one of the main cities in Gujarat’s State which has a record of Hindu Moslem rioting:
More than 120 people died last month when Hindus and Moslems clashed across north India.
Tension between some of India’s 650 million Hindus and 100 million Moslems has increased since a dispute flared last year over a shrine claimed by both faiths in Uttar Pradesh state.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that the opposition Bharitya Janata Party today demanded a judicial inquiry into communal riots in New Delhi on May 27.in which 14 people were killed.
The Party’s New Delhi leader, Nadan Lal Khurana, also demanded that 100,000 rupees, (8,000 dollars) in compensation be paid to the family of each of the dead and 25,000 rupees (2,000 dollars) to each of those seriously injured.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1987
