RIOTS
IN HYDERABAD MARK AYODHYA ANNIVERSARY
7
December 2003
Hindus
and Muslims clashed in the city of Hyderabad in the
province of Andhra Pradesh in southern India, on the
11th anniversary of the destruction of an historic
mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya. At least 3
were killed in the violence. The riots in Hyderabad
ruptured a day of relative tranquility, which saw
peaceful protests by Muslims and celebrations by Hindus
across India.
The
Babri mosque was demolished by Hindu nationalists
in 1992. 2,000 people were killed in clashes across
the nation in the wake of the demolition, and sporadic
violence has persisted since then. Paramilitary groups
had been sent to keep the peace around sites of celebrations
planned by Hindu nationalists. Hindu-Muslim tension
has inflames sentiment surrounding a number of issues,
including the nuclear rivalry with Pakistan and the
dispute over the Himalayan province of Sufi-Muslim
Jammu-and-Kashmir.
India's
ruling party, the BJP, is the Hindu nationlist party,
and recently
won state elections over the Congress party (the
party of Gandhi and Nehru). [For
more: BBC]
