Temple-Mosque Dispute Kills 31 More in India

At least 31 more people were killed Wednesday in religious violence in India over attempts by Hindu militants to tear down a mosque and replace it with a temple.

The Press Trust of India news agency said 16 people were killed at the Ayodhya mosque in northern Uttar Pradesh state. More than 70 people have died nationwide since Tuesday in clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

India sent paramilitary reinforcements to the site and no one was allowed within 200 yards after battles Tuesday between the militants and security forces.

Domestic news agencies reported that six people were killed and 200 injured in the central city of Indore in religious rioting in which people used guns and bombs. Four others were killed in the western state of Gujarat, three in Karnataka, and one each in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, both states in the south.

About 700 shouting militants led by naked Hindu holy men, their bodies smeared with sacred ash, managed to reach the 16th-Century mosque Tuesday and caused minor damage before police cleared them out.

The dusty streets of the town of 50,000 people and 3,000 temples were virtually deserted Wednesday. Muslim leaders were relieved that the mosque was not seriously damaged.

Elsewhere, dozens of towns were under curfew and militant Hindus called strikes to back their campaign to build a temple on what they say is the birthplace of the god, Ram.

India has 100 million Muslims in its overwhelmingly Hindu population of 850 million.