From: bala@research.att.com (Bala Krishnamurthy)
Subject: Reminders of Internal Turmoil on Republic Day
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 17:46:13 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Keywords: Republic Day

apnews reports:
	   NEW DELHI, India (AP) _ India marked its 43rd anniversary as a
republic Tuesday with a parade of weapons that were acquired to
defend its borders but have proved powerless against recurrent
internal violence.
	   The day celebrates the adoption of the constitution that made
India a secular republic and the world's most populous democracy.
But it was shadowed by increasing sectarian unrest that did not
take a holiday.
	   Muslims flew black flags atop the capital's largest mosque to
protest attacks by militant Hindus, and some Muslims boycotted the
festivities. In Kashmir, Muslim separatists battled Indian security
forces, and one paramilitary policeman and two militants were
killed, police said.
	   In southern India, a statue of independence leader Mohandas K.
Gandhi was blown up in Villupuram and two offices of the governing
Congress Party were damaged by blasts in nearby towns on the eve of
Republic Day. Police blamed supporters of ethnic Tamils fighting
for an independent homeland in the nation of Sri Lanka.
	   At a time of growing nostalgia for India's colonial days,
British Prime Minister John Major joined India's top officials on
the grandstand as the first British premier to be the chief guest
at the lavish anniversary parade.
	   The officials were saluted by soldiers in the crisp, colorful
uniforms of regiments dating back to the army of the British Raj
that governed India for 150 years.
	   Ranks of camels, striding in step, bore riders in bright yellow
turbans that matched their saddle covers. The Camel Corps, still
used to patrol the Rajasthan desert against smugglers, followed
bagpipers along the 5-mile parade route.
	   Helicopters showered hundreds of thousands of spectators with
flower petals to begin the 90-minute spectacle of men, tanks,
missiles, field artillery, marching bands and acrobatic motorcycle
riders.
	   Security along Raj Path, the broad avenue from the Presidential
Palace to the arched India Gate memorial, was so strict that women
with handbags were turned away and people were told to leave their
cigarette lighters outside.
	   Police reportedly stopped about 4,000 Muslims marching toward
the home of the speaker of the lower house of Parliament. They
demanded resconstruction of a mosque in the northern town of
Ayodhya that was destroyed last month by Hindu zealots.
	   The frenzied demolition of the 16th-century building set off a
chain reaction of Hindu-Muslim riots that claimed at least 1,800
lives and raised fears for the secularism enshrined in the
constitution.
	   In Kashmir, the Muslim-majority province of northern India,
separatist rebels taunted Indian security forces with potshots from
narrow lanes and windows and fired rockets during the Republic Day
festivities at a stadium in the city of Srinagar.
	   Gunfire crackled through the city most of the day and the army
searched house-to-house for snipers. Hundreds of men were paraded
in the streets in front of hooded informers who were pointing out
militants.
	   Neighboring towns also reported running clashes and paralyzing
strikes.


Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian