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FISHERFOLK IN SOUTH INDIA VILLAGE TENSE AFTER CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM KILLINGS

Updated: August 03, 1995 05:00 PM GMT
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Two Christian-Muslim clashes within two months in Vizhinjam, a beach village in Kerala, southern India, have alarmed both communities, whose leaders allege the riots were politicized.

Some 20,000 Catholic fisher people marched before the Kerala state secretariat July 17 demanding murderers of four Catholics July 10 be arrested.

The riot July 10 came as an enquiry continued into the killing of three Muslims May 14 in the first riot in Vizhinjam, near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala´s state capital, some 2,800 kilometers south of New Delhi.

More than 200 priests, nuns and lay leaders of Trivandrum diocese, which includes Vizhinjam, also marched July 17, blaming police for not quelling the riots and taking no preventive measures after the first riot.

"Police deliberately remained inactive and let Muslims kill our people," Father Eugine Pereira of the diocesan action council told UCA News July 23. Police reportedly arrived five hours after the second riot began.

"Everybody in Vizhinjam knew where these people were murdered and buried, but police did not even search for bodies for four days," he complained.

Father Johny K. Lawrence, secretary to Bishop Maria Callistus Soosa Pakiam of Trivandrum, told UCA News that the July 10 riot was preplanned.

"We knew the Muslims were collecting arms after the first riot and warned the state chief minister and police officers, who refused to act," he said.

Muslim leader Abdul Gaffar Moulavi, imam of nearby Palayam Mosque, told the press the July 10 clash was a result of the "failure" of government machinery.

Police later recovered the Catholics´ bodies from a Muslim burial ground and reburied them in a Catholic church compound. Bishop Pakiam, who presided at the funeral, exhorted the people to remain "disciplined and composed."

Catholic leaders alleged the local government kept police inactive for political gain as Muslim fundamentalists planned retaliation for the first riot, which started as a dispute over common space meant for fishing craft.

The dispute ended in a fight with swords and homemade bombs. The government ordered a probe and gave 25,000 rupees (US$810) to victims´ dependents. Police and paramilitary now guard the area to prevent further clashes.

Syro-Malabar Bishop Joseph Powathil of Changanacherry, Syro-Malankara Bishop Lawrence Mar Ephraem of Trivandrum and Latin Bishop Pakiam, whose dioceses overlap, demanded justice from the government.

Kerala State Chief Minister A.K. Antony chaired a meeting with political parties and Muslim and Christian representatives, including Bishop Pakiam.

National Minority Commission members who visited the area July 23 plan to report to the federal government and suggest actions.

Catholic leaders said the Muslim League, a partner in Kerala´s ruling United Democratic Front government, pressed the chief minister and police not to act. Antony, a Catholic, represents a Muslim constituency in the assembly.

Father Lawrence said that after the first riot, Muslims removed their children from a Catholic school in Vizhinjam. But he said economic and social reasons were greater causes of the riots than religious rivalry.

The area, "fast developing as a fishing harbor" is "the only southern coast where the sea is not rough during the monsoon," he said. "Now Muslims want control of the area where two-thirds of the fishermen are Catholics."

Father Pereira said police "persecuted" Catholics after the May 14 riot, raiding "every house and arresting people.

Nobody was arrested after the second riot, he said. Police raided Muslim houses only eight days later, but still recovered explosives, he added.

State assembly member George Mascrene accused the government of ignoring his "repeated warnings on stock-piling of weapons in the area." He accused police of biased investigations of previous riots and sluggishness in the last.

In a memorandum to the minority commission, Muslims also alleged police action was partial. They denied murdering the Catholics. They also demanded a harbor wall to separate Catholics and formed a committee to press the demand.

END

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