Hindu nationalists vowed Saturday to proceed with a banned march ahead of elections in India's Gujarat state, where Muslims fear the sharp-edged campaigns could rekindle religious tensions that killed 1,000 people earlier this year.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has asked the Hindu nationalists not to hold a religious procession planned for Sunday in Godhra town, even though it could help win more Hindu votes for his Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules Gujarat.
Elections in the state are scheduled for Dec. 10.
The independent Election Commission has banned the rally and local authorities on Saturday outlawed the entry of senior leaders from the World Hindu Council into Godhra and said they would not let the rally go ahead.
But, "come what may, we will hold the march and a rally," said Giriraj Kishore, the council's senior vice president. "If needed, we will court arrests. No one can stop us from exercising our right to speech and expression, and our right to practicing religion."
In February, Muslims in Godhra set fire to a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, killing 60. The riots that followed killed nearly 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.
Approximately 80 percent of India's more than 1 billion people are Hindus. Muslims, the largest minority, are 12 percent.
Muslims who lost homes and family in the rioting say the Hindu leaders are stoking religious passions and expressed fears of renewed clashes.
"I fear more violence will take place," said trader Abdul Rashid, a resident of the Naroda Patiya neighborhood, where his wife and two children were burned alive Feb. 28.
Government officials say they will take tough measures against any rally participants.
"All entry points into the district are being manned round the clock. We are not taking any chances," said Manoj Agarwal, the local administrator. "We will not allow either the procession or the rally to take place."