AHMEDABAD, July 11: Thousands of Muslims have returned to relief camps in the riot-hit western Indian state of Gujarat fearing fresh attacks by Hindu hardliners during an annual procession on Friday.

“We realized that the number of refugees at our camp had shot up only after we fell short of food some days back, and when we did a head count the number had gone up by almost 2,000,” said Mohsin Kadri, a coordinator of the Shah Aalam camp in Gujarat’s commercial capital Ahmedabad.

More than 4,500 people already live in the camp, one of many set up after India’s worst communal violence in a decade broke out in February.

Devout Hindus will march for 14 kms in tense Ahmedabad on Friday as part of the Jagallath Yatra, an annual religious procession.

Leading Muslim leaders have called on the government to forbid the public ceremony in the current climate.

Earlier this month a political procession was called off under pressure from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, fearing it would shatter Gujarat’s relative calm in recent weeks.

More than 1,000 people — most of them Muslims — have been killed in mob violence and more than 100,000 made homeless.

The relief camps have also been internationally criticized, with Human Rights Watch and other groups saying the shelters lack basic sanitation, food and medical services.

But some Muslims say they would rather return to the camps than face thousands of marching Hindus on Friday.

“We don’t want to risk our lives again,” said Jabin Shaikh, 41, who has taken shelter at the Shah Aalam camp.

“The procession will pass through our area and despite heavy security arrangements anything could happen. We will be safe at the camp with our people,” he said.

Many Muslims put little trust in the police, saying they watched on impotently as Hindu extremists attacked them in March.

“After meeting with the city police commissioner, we have appealed to our people to not to go by rumours and check every information that floats that day with the police to alleviate the distrust,” said Maulana Gulam Syed Ashrafi, a Muslim leader. “But we cannot force them to stay in their home when they feel safer in the camps,” he said.

Police insist they are taking utmost security measures for the event to go off peacefully.—AFP