Two days of Hindu-Muslim clashes forced police to impose a curfew yesterday in some areas of Hyderabad, southern India, where a group, which includes Christians, is trying to bring peace back.

One person was killed and several wounded when groups of Hindus and Muslims clashed in the Old Hyderabad area of the city, capital of Andhra Pradesh state. The violence followed disputes over hoisting religious flags in public places.

Interreligious groups are trying to bring leaders of the clashing communities “together in order to work out a solution,” said Mazher Hussain, executive director of the Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA), an inter-faith forum.

Violence reportedly began on March 27 when Hindus, who organized their Hanuman Jayanti feast, tried to hoist their flags and remove flags that Muslims hoisted a month ago to celebrate their Milad-un-Nabi feast. Disputes turned to clashes and violence increased as news of the incidents spread, Mazher said.

Father Anthoniraj Thumma, executive secretary of Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches, an ecumenical forum and COVA member, told UCA News that the federation members plan to visit the troubled areas and counsel people for peace.

Mazher said his organization was trying to involve local people “to identify and isolate trouble mongers from outside who were fomenting trouble in the area.” He said places prone to violence were identified and volunteers are patrolling them to prevent violence.

He said people in the affected areas are very poor and “hardly have food, if they do not go to work.” COVA is trying to collect resources to give them relief as the curfew is expected “to last for well over a week,” he said.

Some members of the state’s ruling Congress party alleged that the riots were instigated. State Congress legislator P. Shanker Rao, said the people feel there “is a conspiracy to destabilize the government. Let the investigating authorities probe it,” he said without speculating on who could be behind it.

Source: Interreligious group tries peace in riot-hit city (UCAN)

Related Posts

1. Religious leaders condone acts of violence in the name of religion
2. Hindus, Muslims march for peace
3. Church develops DIY poll monitoring
4. CRI lawyers step in to help riot victims
5. Christians, Muslims wary of Hindu drive