Thousands of rioting Moslems battled police and rampaged through the streets of Delhi Friday in a new outbreak of communal violence in north India. At least one person was killed and dozens injured after a massive rally at a mosque turned violent and spread through the old section of the capital. In Lucknow, capital of the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, more than 60 people were hurt in clashes between police and Moslem demonstrators.
The Delhi rally, attended by more than 100,000 people, had been called to protest a recent court decision which has aggravated tensions between Moslems and Hindus.
Two weeks ago, a judge awarded a shrine, claimed by both groups and closed for 35 years, to Hindus and allowed it to reopen as a Hindu temple. The lawsuit originally was filed in 1950.
The structure, in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, had been built as a mosque in the 16th Century by Babur, the first Mogul ruler of India. Previously, a Hindu temple honoring the birthplace of Lord Rama had stood on the site.
Crowds of Moslems wearing black armbands crowded the huge Jami Masjid mosque in Delhi to hear fundamentalist Moslem leaders condemn the court ruling. The protesters spat on an effigy of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and set it afire.
”The feeling of Moslems have been hurt by this communal provocation by the judiciary,” said Iqbal Ahmed, a Moslem leader. ”They want to convert the mosque into a temple and are playing with the feelings of Moslems in doing so.”
The demonstrators then swarmed through the streets, stoning buses and breaking storefronts. In one of the narrow streets of the old city, police opened fire after being pelted with rocks, killing a protester and seriously injuring another.
Authorities said 25 people were hurt in the rioting, including 12 policemen, although residents claimed there were many more casualties. Police arrested 135 and used tear gas to break up the demonstrations.
By Friday evening, the old part of the city had been cordoned off and police units patrolled the streets. A curfew was imposed within a few hours of the disturbance.
”This is a conspiracy engineered by the government,” said Humayun Kamal, a 40-year-old Moslem shopkeeper, commenting on the court decision. Other Moslems pointed out where police bullets had damaged a shopfront.
Sardar Singh, a Hindu and paper merchant in the area, shook his head over a small Hindu shrine that had been damaged by the Moslem protesters. He said a Hindu priest was hurt in the attack.
”Both Moslems and Hindus have been living together here,” he observed.
