Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, Called for Calm - 2002-02-28

In India, following the burning of a train carrying Hindu activists by angry mobs reportedly consisting of Muslims, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister, called for calm. During this attack that occurred early yesterday in the city of Godhra, 57 Hindu activists who were returning from a gathering in the city of Ayodhya were killed. A Hindu group intends to build a temple for Hindus on the site of a Muslim mosque in Ayodhya, which was destroyed by fanatic Hindus ten years ago. Police say that Muslims in Godhra became angry when train passengers shouted slogans in support of Hindus and set the train on fire. In the unrest following the deadly attack by Muslims on the train carrying Hindu nationalists on Wednesday, at least 58 Muslims have been killed. 38 of the Muslim victims were killed in their homes in Ahmedabad, the state capital, which was set on fire by Hindu rioters. Indian police told the Associated Press that it took firefighters six hours to navigate the roadblocks set up by Hindu youths to reach the fire site. Earlier today, the killing of at least 20 people prompted the military to be called to the state capital. This unrest occurs a day after 58 people, including several children, were killed during the burning of a train by a group of Muslims. Most of the dead were Hindu activists.