Hindus V/s Muslims in Vadodara
Police in Vadodara have arrested 140 people after 2 men were stabbed during violence between Hindus and Muslims that left more than a dozen injure and was triggered by an image posted on facebook, official said on Monday.
The violence in Gujarat coincides with a visit to the US by prime minister Narendra Modi, who is set to meet president Barrack Obama later on Monday on a trip emphasizing India's economic potential.
For almost a decade, Modi was unwelcome in US after Washington revoked his visa in 2005 over accusations of religious intolerance stemming from riots three years earlier in Gujarat, when he was the state's chief minister.
Trouble was sparked by an image widely distributed on social media website facebook that some Muslims considered offensive to Islam, said a senior administration official in the city.
It has also been reported that a morphed photograph of Ambe Maa on Kaaba uploaded allegedly by one Sanjay Raulgi, became the cause of tension as furious members of Muslim community gathered outside his house and started pelting stones.
"The idea of banning Muslims from Hindu festivals upset the minority, but we are determined to keep the celebrations open to all," Radhakrishan said, adding that tension had begun to ebb. Internet services were blocked after the riots.
