NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The chief cleric of India's biggest mosque said on Friday that civil war could erupt if what he called genocide against Muslims in the western state of Gujarat did not end.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, in a fiery speech after Friday prayers at New Delhi's historic Jama Masjid, said Muslims would have to "think out ways for our self-protection" in the wake of India's worst religious bloodletting in a decade.
More than 750 people, most from the minority Muslim population, have died in reprisal killings and clashes since a Muslim mob burnt alive 59 Hindus in a train in late February.
As he spoke, a crowd of Muslims torched an effigy of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the gates to the sprawling mosque in Delhi's teeming old quarter after beating the cloth figure with sticks. "Shame on Modi," they cried.
Bukhari's warning came as opposition parties and coalition allies kept up the heat in parliament on the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition to dismiss Modi, accusing him of turning a blind eye to the killings of Muslims.
"Remove Modi, save the nation," lawmakers bellowed as India's famously unruly parliament adjourned in uproar for a fifth day after the government again rejected calls for his dismissal.
Modi has denied charges that his administration and state police looked the other way while Hindu gangs went on a rampage, killing Muslims and looting and burning Muslim property.
Since the violence in Gujarat broke out, the BJP has increasingly adopted a new strident Hindu tone, prompting critics to say the party was returning to its Hindu revivalist roots.
Last weekend, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, long seen as a moderate among hardliners, surprised many when he accused Muslims of wanting "to spread terror in the name of religion".
"What has happened in Gujarat over the last 51 days is nothing but genocide...stop it now," said Bukhari. "There will be a civil war in this country. We will also show our strength. India will be broken into pieces."
While violence has waned in Gujarat, the state has witnessed sporadic religious clashes and killings over the past few weeks, although all was quiet on Friday as the defence minister, George Fernandes, toured areas worst hit by the violence.
He told reporters the government was considering whether to pull out the army which has been helping keep peace. "We've not taken a decision yet. I'm still having a look at the situation," he said in Ahmedabad, the state's main city.
RELIANT ON SUPPORT
The embattled BJP depends on the support of 20 smaller and mostly secular parties to keep its coalition in power and none so far has threatened to withdraw from the government.
Party leaders including Vajpayee and the head of the opposition Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, attended a meeting to break the logjam over opposition demands for Modi's dismissal.
But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said "sharp differences" surfaced at the meeting.
BJP spokesman V.K. Malhotra said Vajpayee challenged the opposition to move a no-confidence motion in the government.
The opposition pushed for a censure motion.
Political analysts say the government believes it would be more likely to rally support for a no-confidence motion while the opposition believes it could get support from some of the coalition's allies for a censure resolution on Gujarat.
If it were to lose a censure motion, the 30-month-old coalition would not have to resign but would lose the moral authority to govern, constitutional experts say.