Muslims fear Hindu procession will spark violent attacks

TERRIFIED Muslims streamed into relief camps in the western Indian state of Gujarat yesterday on the eve of a Hindu procession some fear could trigger new religious bloodshed.

“People told me there would be rivers of blood, it would be worse than before,” said Shah Jahan Bano, 18, her face a swollen mass of burn scars from being attacked by a Hindu mob in a wave of religious carnage that swept the state in February and March.

Bano was one of thousands of Muslims who took refuge yesterday in Shah Alam, the largest of nine camps set up after India’s deadliest Hindu-Muslim violence in a decade.