Clashes in India between supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party and those of an opposition party snowballed into Hindu-Muslim rioting, with three people killed and dozens injured over two days of violence, police said on Tuesday.
Clashes in India between supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party and those of an opposition party snowballed into Hindu-Muslim rioting, with three people killed and dozens injured over two days of violence, police said on Tuesday.
The trouble in the eastern state of West Bengal began on Sunday with rival processions by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress marking the birth of the Hindu god Rama.
Violence broke out on Sunday and spilled over into Monday, turning into clashes between Hindus and Muslims.
Anuj Sharma, a top police official in the state, said officials had held an emergency meeting on Tuesday and security had been increased, with riot police deployed, and about 100 people detained to snuff out the violence.
“Large scale arrests are underway,” Sharma told Reuters.
The danger of communal violence is a constant worry in the world’s biggest democracy. Tension between Muslims and Hindus has increased in some places since Modi and his Hindu-nationalist BJP came to power in 2014.
