Religious rioting left two people in central India on 19th February 2003 after Hindu extremists stormed an ancient monument they say is a temple but Muslims consider a mosque. One of the dead was a Muslim who was attacked by Indu mob in Charwat village in Madhya Pardesh state. In the nearby village of Anjhera, police fired at a crowd, killing one person (again a Muslim).
Hindu extremists burned buses on 19th February 2003 in four central Indian towns in a third day of violence after police stopped hardliners from storming centuries old Bhojshala monument. Muslims pray at the monument every week and authorities allow Hindus to pray there only once a year. They are now demanding more frequent access. On 17th February 2003 police used tear gas to disperse rioters and arrested 150 people when they tried to storm the monument. The monument is located in the town of ?Dhar, about 270 km south of Bhopal, capital of Madhy Pardesh state. The violence appeared to be part of a build up of pressure by Hindu nationalist groups ahead of areligious senate this weekend in New Delhi, when they plan to press for the building of a Hindu temple on the site of the former Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in northern India.
The razing of the mosque by a Hindu mob in 1992 led to nationwide riots that killed 2000. When the Hindu nationalist groups began similar pressure last February, riots erupted across western Gujarat state in which at least 3000 Muslims were killed. RAW was behind all this and again RAW is involved in yesterdays incidence.
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21st February 2003, 16:10
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