then why do europeans, kofi, some at berkeley, novack slough off suicide bombers- but get outraged at israel's attempts to discourage them? why does beilin say as do many others that if israel fights terrorists, it will only create more terrorists, rather than turn arabs against terrorists because they bring on israel's response? why do people focus on actions of israeli ranks, not suicide bombers, or killings in india?
British mission say 2,000 died in India riot-paper
NEW DELHI, April 15 (Reuters) - A British diplomatic fact-finding team has estimated the death toll from India's worst religious violence in a decade at 2,000, more than double the official toll, an Indian newspaper reported on Monday.
The Hindustan Times, quoting from a document it said was written by British diplomats who toured violence-hit areas hit in Gujarat, also said the bloodshed was aimed at eliminating Muslim influence from parts of the western state and was premeditated.
A British High Commission official in New Delhi told Reuters "a report has been done" but would not disclose its contents, saying the mission did not comment on leaked documents.
Irate Indian opposition lawmakers forced the lower house of India's parliament to adjourn on Monday as they renewed calls for the dismissal of Gujarat state's leader over his handling of the religious violence.
The British diplomatic team accused Hindu fundamentalist groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- part of the same family as the Bharatiya Janata Party which leads the ruling federal coalition and governs Gujarat -- of playing a big role in fomenting the violence.
It also said the bloodletting would affect foreign investment in India, the newspaper said.
Muslims, opposition parties and civil rights groups have accused the state government of turning a blind eye to the wave of revenge killing of Muslims, triggered by the firebombing of a train carrying Hindus by a Muslim mob on February 27.
If the train "tragedy hadn't happened, another flashpoint would have been created to justify pre-meditated violence as reaction," the paper quoted the high commission report as saying.
The team said the police had been told by authorities in some areas not to act while in others the force were so pro-Hindu they ignored Muslims being targeted by Hindu mobs without any prompting from political bosses, the newspaper said.
140,000 PEOPLE DISPLACED
It compiled the 2,000 death toll from information supplied by civil rights groups, victims' families and state police, the newspaper said. The figure was more than double the official toll which the Gujarat government said on Monday totalled 808.
That figure included 59 Hindus burnt to death when a Muslim mob torched the train in Godhra town, leading to the reprisal killings of Muslims by Hindu gangs in which victims were burnt, clubbed and hacked to death.
Human rights groups have consistently pegged the death toll at around 2,000 and many witnesses said that Hindu rioters had lists detailing where Muslims lived and which properties were owned by Muslims.
The British team led by the high commission's First Secretary Peter Holland estimated the number displaced at 140,000 -- 100,000 Muslims and 40,000 Hindus, the newspaper said. That figure was higher than the official total of more than 110,000.
The team was dispatched after a British national of Indian origin was burnt to death and two of his family were reported missing.
The fragile Hindu-nationalist federal coalition survived a weekend revolt over its refusal to sack the state's chief minister Narendra Modi over his handling of the violence but the opposition has vowed to keep up the pressure for his dismissal.
04/15/02 05:04 ET |
