2,500 people killed in 8,473 riots in last decade: Govt stats

In an alarming trend, more than 2,500 people have been killed in incidents of communal violence in the country since 2002, out of which 107 lost their lives this year alone.

A total of 2,502 people died in 8,473 incidents of communal disturbances across the country during the decade. 28,668 people were also injured in these riots, according to Union Ministry of Home Affairs statistics.

107 people have been killed in 479 riots, including the recent Muzaffarnagar violence, this year till September 15.

Altogether 1,697 people were also injured in these riots which have taken place in different parts of the country.

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Last year, the country saw 668 incidents of communal violence in which 94 people lost their lives and 3,117 others were injured. Also, a total of 245 people were killed in terror attacks in various parts of the country.

In 2011, there were 580 communal disturbances in which 91 people lost their lives and 1,899 others injured. Altogether 419 people were killed in terror violence in that year.

There were 701 riots in 2010 in which 116 people were killed and 2,138 others injured. A total of 537 people lost their lives in terror violence in 2010.

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The highest death toll was in 2002, the year when the Gujarat riots took place following the Godhra train burning incident. A total of 1,130 people were killed in 722 communal disturbances in that year. 4,375 people were also injured in these riots.

At the highest level of the government, the increasing incidents of communal violence have been taken very seriously, the report stated.

Government has convened a meeting of the National Integration Council, to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in Delhi on Monday to discuss the rising incidents of communal disturbances and chalk out ways to prevent them.

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Expressing concern over the recent communal clashes, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the country has not learnt lessons from the history and same "tragic mistakes" are being repeated.

"Why is it that we do not learn the lessons from our own history but keep repeating the same tragic mistakes?" he had said referring to various riots.

Calling for urgently bringing back sanity into "our midst," the President again said on Saturday that time has come to say enough is enough.

“Humanity cannot tolerate this any more. We must save humanity and civilisation. This cannot be done by Parliament or law enforcement machinery alone. It has to be achieved through a collective effort of society at large," he said.

Describing the Muzaffarnagar riots as "very sad", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday that only a very small group of people was responsible for creating such trouble which needed to be checked.

"I believe that it is only a very small group of people that is responsible for creating divisions amongst us.

"I also believe that it is the solemn duty of each one of us to resist these forces," he said.