CALCUTTA, INDIA, March 10, 2002: Hindu activists on Sunday fought police trying to enforce a ban on large gatherings imposed after India’s worst religious violence in a decade. One activist was killed and 32 people, mostly police, were injured. Police and paramilitary forces were attacked when they tried to break up the crowd at a train station in Paldi, 12 miles south of Calcutta. Police responded by beating the group back with wooden sticks, lobbing tear gas and finally opening fire, said local government administrator Alapan Bandopadhyay. Dozens of Hindus were defying a ban on congregations of more than four people. The ban was imposed after more than 700 people were killed in Hindu-Muslim clashes earlier this month. A member of the Viswa Hindu Parishad, which organized the ceremony, was killed in the shooting, and 32 people including 25 police officers were injured. Most of the injured activists had bullet wounds in their legs, while policemen were injured by rocks and other objects hurled by the mob, Bandopadhyay said.
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