H.H.S. Viswanathan: MOST HINDUS AND MUSLIMS 'LIVE IN PEACE'

Date: 05-01-2002

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INDIAN OFFICIAL: MOST HINDUS AND MUSLIMS 'LIVE IN PEACE'

HONOLULU (May 1) -- The Indian government is searching for reasons why religious riots have flared up in certain areas of India and feels "ashamed" about the hundreds of people who have died, an Indian diplomat speaking in Honolulu said today. But he emphasized that the vast majority of Hindus and Muslims in India "live side-by-side rather peacefully."

"It's not about a division with Muslims on one side and Hindus on the other," said Harihara Subramaniam Viswanathan, India's consul general in San Francisco.

Viswanathan, speaking at a lunch co-sponsored by the East-West Center, said the riots have been limited to only seven or eight cities and involved only about 15 percent of the 140 million Muslims living in India. Sectarian violence since Feb. 27 has killed more than 900 people, mostly Muslims. The government is conducting studies to see why certain areas have been prone to violence, he said.

The Indian government fended off a vote of censure today over its handling of the riots in Gujarat state, fraying the 19-party coalition headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Parties in the coalition have accused the government of condoning the Hindu violence against Muslims, which started when 60 Hindus were killed by a Muslim mob.

Viswanathan said there is much intermingling of the two groups, and both houses of India's parliament are headed by Muslims. India's huge film industry is "dominated by Muslim heroes," he added.

On terrorism, Viswanathan reiterated his government's call for Pakistan to stop terrorists from crossing the border into India. He said India has lost more than 50,000 lives to terrorism in the past two decades, including two major attacks recently on elected officials.

While Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf took a "step in the right direction" last January in response to India's demand for "renunciation of support to terrorists as a state policy," he has since "reverted to his untenable and time worn rhetorics and sought to justify use of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India." Instead of handing over the most wanted terrorists, Viswanathan accused Pakistan of granting some of them citizenship.

While some U.S. officials have said the Pakistan government cannot control all the actions of terrorists, Viswanathan said Musharraf was in full control of elements in the army accused of helping al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. "Pakistan must realize that there are no good terrorists and bad terrorists."