 HYDERABAD, India (AP)
Four killed in violent rallies as Bush goes farming in Hyderabad
Anger against U.S. President George W. Bush swept through parts of
India yesterday as protesters burned his effigy and carried posters of
Osama bin Laden, and rioting demonstrators clashed with Hindus in a
northern city, leaving at least four dead.
While most Indians look favourably upon the US, and although the
protests have not been as large as expected, anti-Bush demonstrations
were held in various Indian cities by communists and Muslim groups
during his visit.
Violence erupted in the city of Lucknow when dozens of armed Muslims
tried to force Hindu shop owners to shut their stores to protest Bush’s
visit, said Senior Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Pandey. The two
sides argued, exchanged blows, and finally shot at each other, killing
at least four people, including a teenager, and injuring 18 people,
police spokesman Surendra Srivastava said.
Television stations showed shrieking people carrying the injured on
fruit carts through narrow streets choked with protesters. In
Hyderabad, demonstrators burned an effigy of Bush around the time that
he arrived there.
Chanting “Bush hands off India” and “Bush go home,” several hundred
communist and Muslim demonstrators marched through the city, and shops
in the Muslim-dominated Charminar neighbourhood were closed in protest.
Bush spent much of his four-hour visit to Hyderabad chatting with
farmers, weavers and women volunteers from self-help groups at an
agricultural university, and interacting with young entrepreneurs at
the Indian School of Business.
No shops opened in the business centre after Muslim leaders called for
the city to be brought to a standstill in protest at Bush’s visit. Last update on: 4-3-2006 |