Communal violence threatens stability
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned yesterday that a dangerous rise in ethnic and communal tensions was posing a serious threat to the country's social stability.
His comments came against a backdrop of unrest across India, particularly attacks by Hindus on Christians in eastern Orissa and southern Karnataka states, and clashes between Muslims and tribal groups in the northeast.
"Perhaps the most disturbing and dangerous aspect today is the assault on our composite culture... we see fault-lines developing between, and among, communities," Singh told a conference of chief state ministers in New Delhi.
Singh said the violence threatened what he described as India's proud "inheritance" of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-caste society.
"There are clashes between Hindus, Christians, Muslims and tribal groups. An atmosphere of hatred and violence is being artificially generated. There are forces deliberately encouraging such tendencies," he said.
India is officially secular but clashes between the majority Hindu community and minority Christians and Muslims erupt periodically.
At least 35 people died in Hindu-Christian violence in Orissa following the killing of a hardline Hindu priest and four of his followers in August.
Earlier this month, some 50 people were killed in clashes between Muslim migrants and tribal groups in India's northeastern Assam state.
India has also been rocked by a series of bomb blasts targeting major cities this year that have taken a combined toll of more than 100 lives.
A homegrown Islamic group, the Indian Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the blasts in the cities of Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi, saying they were revenge for attacks on Muslims across India.
"There can be no compromise with terrorism and terrorists have to be dealt with firmly," Singh said in his speech.
"We need to meet today's mindless violence with the requisite amount of force but must also ensure that this is tempered by reason and justice which is the normal order of governance," he added.
India is battling a Muslim insurgency in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and a myriad of rebel groups with demands ranging from secession to autonomy in the country's remote northeast.
It has also had to confront an upsurge in violence by Indian Maoists who hold sway in half of India's 29 states.
Singh has previously described the leftwing rebels, known here as Naxalites, as the biggest threat to internal security.
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