India's dangerous flames: background behind the religious violence which erupted in India over the last week.
India's government has moved firmly in an effort to quell any violent backlash to the latest spate of killings over a controversial campaign to construct a Hindu temple on the site of a demolished mosque. The issue is a flashpoint for religious violence in India. In three days, more than 200 people have died in the western state of Gujarat. More than 50 Muslims died after their homes were torched in a shanty town near Ahmedabad, the state's largest city. Police have been ordered to shoot troublemakers on sight and troops have been sent in to help keep order.
In 1992, 3000 people were killed in the riots that started when the mosque was demolished.
See also:
- Srikrishna Commission Report on the Riots in Bombay
- BJP's White Paper on Ayodhya & the Rama Temple Movement
- Anger in India: the Columbia Journalism Review looks at the effect of foreign media on the riots in 1992