Muslim attack on Hindus kills at least 57

By Siddharth Kumar

Associated Press

GODHRA, India – Muslim attackers armed with stones and kerosene descended on a train carrying hundreds of Hindu nationalists Wednesday, setting fire to four cars and killing 57 people.

Fourteen of the dead were children and 43 other people were injured, many critically, when a mob attacked the train as it pulled out of Godhra shortly after 6:30 a.m., Gujarat state officials said.

Fearing the attack would ignite sectarian riots, Indian officials immediately stepped up security across this vast, religiously divided nation. The prime minister urged Hindus not to retaliate.

The nationalists belonged to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council, a group seeking to build a temple at the disputed holy site of Ayodhya. Ten years ago, fighting between Muslims and Hindus over Ayodhya killed 2,000 people.

Most of the 2,500 Hindu activists on board the Sabarmati Express were returning from Ayodhya and were bound for Ahmadabad, 95 miles to the south.

Smoke was still pouring from the train Wednesday afternoon as relief workers gingerly removed the charred bodies, which were piled on top of one another, their limbs entangled.

State officials and witnesses said the Muslims appeared incensed by Hindu chanting on the railroad platform in Godhra.

The cars they destroyed were detached, and the train continued on to Vadodara, 60 miles to the south. There, a Hindu crowd that had gathered at the station fatally stabbed a man as he got off the train, hospital officials said. Several other people were beaten with sticks, they said.

Later Wednesday in Godhra, a 17-year-old boy was killed when police fired shots and tear gas to disperse mobs looting shops and setting them ablaze, officials said.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called on Hindu nationalists not to retaliate. “We need to protect Indian brotherhood at every cost,” said Vajpayee, who canceled a trip to Australia for a Commonwealth summit after the attack.

Uttar Pradesh state officials said 3,000 paramilitary troops were sent to Ayodhya to help police seal off the town. Only residents with passes were allowed in.

Most of Godhra was placed under curfew Wednesday night.

Gujarat Home Minister Gordhan Zadaphia said security was tightened in Muslim areas of the state, and that police were ordered to shoot on sight to prevent rioting.

“It is clear from the statements of survivors that the attack was carried out by local people belonging to the Muslim community and, for this reason, because of chances of retaliation, we have already instructed our police officers to arrange special security cover for the Muslim population,” Zadaphia said.

Police also deployed extra patrols in cities where Muslims and Hindus live in close quarters. In Old Delhi, the Muslim section of India’s capital, security was tightened in the congested lanes of the ancient walled city.