March 8, 2002	Friday	Zilhaj 23, 1422

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NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD, March 7: India’s interior minister faced vocal opposition calls to quit on Thursday as lawmakers accused him of failing to stop the worst Hindu-Muslim clashes in a decade that killed at least 677 people.

Outraged opposition lawmakers branded the government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), “a disgrace” and demanded that Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani resign over the religious violence in Gujarat.

Advani, 75, seen as a hawk and unofficial second-in-command to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, was expected to reply in parliament on Friday to accusations he delayed ordering out the army to halt the violence.—Reuters