2003 Photo Contest, People in the News, 2nd prize
Photographer

Bruno Stevens

for Newsweek

01 March, 2002

The sister and mother of a Hindu man grieve minutes after he is stabbed to death by a Muslim neighbor in retaliation for the burning of his home. Tension between Hindus and Muslims, a minority who form ten per cent of Gujarat's 50 million population, erupted in riots in the first part of the year. Communal violence has been spreading throughout the Indian state for decades, as the decline of the moderate Congress party led to the growth in popularity of Hindu nationalist political parties, which in turn opened the way to extreme nationalist groups and Muslim fundamentalism. In Ahmadabad, Hindus ransacked Muslim homes and businesses in reprisal for an earlier attack on a train carrying mainly Hindu pilgrims. Police were accused of not intervening effectively.

About the photographer

Bruno Stevens

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