AHMEDABAD, April 28: The chief minister of India’s Gujarat, who has been accused of turning a blind eye to the country’s deadliest religious bloodshed in a decade, appealed on Sunday for trust between the Hindus and Muslims.

Narendra Modi issued the call at a thinly-attended peace march in the city of Ahmedabad just hours after nine more people were killed in a fresh eruption of violence.

“Everyone’s lost something. What Gujarat at the moment requires is trust between the people,” said Modi, who denies opposition accusations that he failed to act to halt the violence.

Soon after Modi’s call for peace, one person was stabbed to death as mobs clashed on the streets of Ahmedabad and set fire to houses in different parts of the city.

Four people were injured when police opened fire to control the rampaging mobs, officials said.

More than 800 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in revenge killings and clashes across Gujarat since 59 Hindus were burnt to death in a train by a Muslim mob on February 27.

The violence has plunged the national coalition government into its deepest political crisis since it took office in 1999.

Sunday’s peace march came two days before the government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was due to face a crucial parliamentary vote over its handling of the bloodshed.

The march, organised by business leaders, drew about 1,000 people — way below organisers’ predictions that tens of thousands would turn out.

“I won’t join hands with these guys,” said one onlooker, S.B. Syed, 62, referring to Modi and other government leaders. “They have no business being in a peace rally.”

“It’s too late,” said another onlooker, Usman Ghani Rizvi. “A lot of blood has spilled. It should have been held earlier.”—Reuters