India’s northern Haryana state tense after 5 killed in communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims
Associated PressNUH, India — Indian authorities imposed a curfew, suspended internet service and deployed thousands of paramilitary forces Tuesday to parts of northern Haryana state after deadly communal clashes spread to Gurugram, a city just outside the capital, New Delhi. The violence began Monday afternoon when Hindus and Muslims clashed with each other in Haryana’s Nuh district during a religious procession by a Hindu nationalist group, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The state’s home minister, Anil Vij, alleged the violence was “engineered” and said police will investigate the clashes. Communal violence in India is not new, with periodic clashes breaking out ever since the British partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, but observers say that religious polarization has risen under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government, further deepening fault lines against minorities and heightening tensions.