UP Saw Highest Number Of Deaths In Communal Unrest: U.S. Report

WASHINGTON: Uttar Pradesh saw the highest number of deaths in communal clashes in India in 2013, according to a U.S. report which said the world last year witnessed the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory.

"Uttar Pradesh, the largest state (in India), experienced the highest number of deaths in communal unrest for the second consecutive year, including the 65 killed in Hindu-Muslim communal violence in Muzaffarnagar," said the State Department in its annual Congressional-mandated 'International Religious Freedom Report' for 2013, which was released by Secretary of State John Kerry.

In India, the report said, clashes in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh between Hindu and Muslim communities between late August and mid-September led to the deaths of 65 persons, 68 persons injured, and an estimated 40,000-50,000 displaced, it said.

According to the report, in 2013, the world witnessed the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory. In almost every corner of the globe, millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and others representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs, it said.

All around the world, individuals were subjected to discrimination, violence and abuse, perpetrated and sanctioned violence for simply exercising their faith, identifying with a certain religion, or choosing not to believe in a higher deity at all, the report said.

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