Muslims fearful in Gujarat after Hindu poll win

AHMEDABAD - Muslims in the riot-torn Indian state of Gujarat said on Saturday they were living in fear amid violence following last month's election of a Hindu fundamentalist government.

About 40 Muslim shops in a predominantly Hindu town, Lunavada, some 130 kilometres south of the state's commercial capital Ahmedabad, were looted and burnt on Thursday. "The police looked on as the shops owned by Muslims were burnt. None of usdared to go (to help) as we feared we would be attacked," said Anwar Adam, a resident of the town. He said a Muslim businessman and his family were later asked by the police to leave the town. "Their shop was then looted. It was not burnt as there were many Hindu shops in the same complex," Adam said. Muslim leader Mukhtar Mohammad said he believed communal clashes occurred every day.

"Muslims are being attacked by Hindu fundamentalists in different parts of Gujarat. There is a communal clash somewhere every day in the state and the police is not of much help," said local Muslim leader Mukhtar Mohammad. Local Muslims said they felt the Hindu fundamentalists had been emboldened by the victory of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in state elections held last month.

The BJP won the polls with a resounding majority of 126 seats in the 182-member assembly. Critics claimed the BJP state government had capitalised on Hindu-Muslim violence, earlier in the year, in its election campaign. Gujarat was rocked by riots after 58 Hindus travelling on a train through the town of Godhra were burnt to death in February by a mob believed to have been Muslim. Riots and major sectarian violence followed, which left some 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The state government, led by hardline Chief Minister Narendra Modi, was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence. "It is because the police are inactive and give the Hindu fundamentalists a long leash to do as they please that the sectarian riots are continuing in the state," said Master Khalili, who lives in Lunavada.

He claimed that after Thursday's riots in the town, the police arrested 20 Muslims, who were later brutally beaten. But police denied the charge and said they had arrested members of both communities to bring the situation under control. "We have arrested 31 persons for rioting, of which 20 are Muslims and 11 Hindus. The police are also carrying out combing operations in several areas of the town," said Superintendent of Police B.K. Nanavati.

Lunavada is not the only town where violence has flared recently. Immediately after the elections, a Muslim was killed and more than 32 Muslim shops were burnt in the town of Baroda immediately after the elections result, while 34 Muslims in Pavagadh town said they were attacked by mobs a week ago. Muslims said even if they were not actually subjected to violence, they felt psychologically insecure.

Many of their community were fleeing one town to escape trouble, but finding the situation was just as bad elsewhere, they said. "This vicious spiral of violence is just not ending. We are shaken and frustrated, more than ever before, by the developments," said Zubeir Gopalani, a local Muslim leader from Baroda. Instead of the violence dying down, he said the situation was getting worse. - AFP