International

U.K. 'concerned' over Gujarat toll

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON APRIL 16. The British Government is "concerned" that the toll in the Gujarat violence might be higher than earlier believed, a Foreign Office spokesman told The Hindu today, confirming that a team from the British High Commission in New Delhi had gone to the State last week to study the situation.

While declining to disclose the contents of the team's findings, he said the Government was concerned that the "scale of violence and deaths may have been greater than earlier thought". London was in "close contact" with the Indian Government, he said, without commenting on "speculation" that the British High Commission had sent a report to the Foreign Office putting the toll at about 2,000 — several times more than the official claim.

The report is also said to have indicated that the violence was planned, and not spontaneous, as claimed by the State Government, but the spokesman refused to either confirm or deny it. "We do not comment on leaks, but what I can confirm is that a team of the British High Commission went to Gujarat last week."The Indian Muslim Federation (U.K.) said that its leaders had met the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, and urged him to take up with the Indian Government the issue of the "missing British Muslims in India". While one person had died in the violence, many were missing and there was no way to track them. "We have been given a telephone number but it has been of no help," Irfan Mustafa, general secretary of the Federation said. He demanded curbs on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's "communal propaganda" in Britain, alleging that "inflammatory" speeches were made at a VHP meeting in Southall a few weeks ago. "There was talk of ethnic cleansing in India, and Indian Muslims were accused of destroying peace in the country," he said.

British commentators have highlighted the continuing violence in Gujarat, seen as a setback to the Vajpayee Government's claim of being "secular". "At a BJP conference in Goa, he (Mr. Vajpayee) even jumped on to the Muslim-bashing bandwagon," The Independent said referring to his speech in which he attacked the "jehadi" face of Islam.

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