Author: Venkitesh Ramakrishnan
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: May 3, 2003
URL: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030503/asp/nation/story_1932992.asp
Eight people were killed in rioting
today between two communities in Kerala, a state with India's best record
for social reforms and little history of communal riots.
The riots in Marad beach area of
Kozhikode district in north Kerala appeared to be the handiwork of certain
sections that were not abiding by the decisions of the peace committee
functioning in the region since violence broke out in the area in January
2002.
Five persons had died then and more
than a hundred houses burnt down in Marad, which is one of the most communally-sensitive
areas in Kerala.
Police said the immediate provocation
for the violence that broke out around 7 pm today and continued for over
an hour was not known.
But initial assessments by law enforcement
authorities indicate that it was triggered by sections close to the National
Democratic Front (NDF).
An agency report quoted police as
saying that the clashes followed heated exchanges between members of the
two communities.
More than 25 people, some of them
women, were injured and there was widespread damage to property in the
rioting. The condition of eight of the injured is critical. All of them
have been admitted to the medical college hospital at Kozhikode.
Rapid Action Force units are being
rushed to the area. State ministers and other politicians, including those
from the Opposition CPM, have rushed to the spot.
The Marad region has witnessed a
spurt of majority and minority fundamentalism over the past few months.
The majority hardliners have been led by organisations such as the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad, while the minority extremists were led by organisations
like the NDF.
The RSS has called a dawn-to-dusk
hartal in the state tomorrow.
