London Independent
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
Published: 27 October 2007
India’s largest opposition party has dismissed claims that its government in the state of Gujarat encouraged the killing of nearly 2,500 Muslims in March 2002.
The allegations against the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were made in secret video recordings by an investigative magazine which were also broadcast on local television. The BJP says the allegations are a conspiracy hatched by India’s governing Congress party ahead of elections in Gujarat next month.
Tehelka magazine claimed that Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, gave Hindus the green light to attack the state’s Muslims after a train fire blamed on Muslims killed 58 people.
