15 Killed in India in Rioting Over Minority Preference

At least 15 people were killed and 80 wounded in daylong street battles involving police and rival groups Tuesday in the west Indian city of Ahmedabad, the Press Trust of India reported.

It was the worst day of violence since the flare-up of a bitter campaign to reverse government policies reserving jobs and college places for minority groups like untouchables.

During savage clashes between police and supporters and opponents of the policies, victims were stabbed, shot, stoned and burned to death.

The violence, in which 35 people have died over the past week, is the gravest law and order problem faced by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi since his election victory four months ago.

Violence flared in Gujarat state last February, three months after the government announced that government job and university quotas for untouchables and other underprivileged castes would go up from 31% to 49%.

Students, mainly from upper caste Hindu families, complain that the quotas deprive them of jobs and college places on merit.

Police Rampage

Troops took over most areas of Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state, Monday night when police went on a rampage after a colleague was hacked to death. Some policemen attacked journalists and offices of newspapers that have criticized their handling of the unrest.

However, the troops’ deployment, indefinite curfews and the arrest of thousands of rioters failed to stop the violence Tuesday.

The news agency said sporadic clashes broke out while troop reinforcements were taking up positions. After sunrise Tuesday, the violence grew in intensity and spread through the city of 2.5 million people as rioters ignored the curfews.

The news agency said seven people died from burns, three from stabbings, two from stoning and three from bullet wounds.

Doctors at hospitals worked non-stop to treat a steady stream of casualties.

Streets Littered

Ramesh Menon, an Ahmedabad journalist, said the streets were littered with dozens of burned cars and bicycles, and hundreds of small shops and houses smoldered from arson attacks.

Menon said the clashes mainly involved groups of several hundred people fighting pitched battles with stones and rags soaked in gasoline.

He said the worst violence Tuesday was in outlying suburbs and slum areas, strongholds of poorer residents who benefit from the reservation policies.

Rioters beat up pedestrians not involved in the controversy and most shops and offices were shut, Menon said.