AHMEDABAD, Sept 2: The ruling party in Gujarat has postponed a controversial procession by Hindu nationalists which Muslims and police say could reignite religious tensions.

Last month the Gujarat government, headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, announced that the local chapter of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was planning a Gujarat Gaurav Yatra (Pride of Gujarat) procession on Sept 3.

But on Sunday night the Gujarat BJP said it was postponing the event for the second time.

According to the Gujarat BJP chief, Rajendrasinh Rana, it was put off because the Congress party decided to hold its own rally on Monday, a day before the BJP’s procession.

The Congress rally was to start from Odhav, an industrial township about 25 kilometres from Ahmedabad, and culminate at the pilgrim town of Paghvel, from where Modi’s rally was set to begin on Tuesday.

Rana said the Gujarat administration was worried about clashes erupting between the Congress and BJP supporters, which could disrupt the fragile law and order situation in the state.

“Looking at the conflict between Congress and the BJP over the yatra, we decided to postpone it to Sept 7 so that the Congress could complete its functions in the town before we begin our rally,” said Rana.

“A letter to this effect has already been dashed off to the Congress by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

“Moreover, leading Hindu saints of Gujarat had also been appealing to both parties to hold our functions at different times to avoid any conflict. We decided to heed their appeal,” he added.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had also been putting pressure on Modi to reschedule the procession.

Opposition groups and human rights organizations have criticized chief minister Modi’s plans to go ahead with the procession, which they said would further aggravate tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

The police said they needed additional security personnel to make sure the procession would go off peacefully.

Gujarat witnessed violent communal riots in March and April, in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Tens of thousands of people were left homeless in the riots, many of whom are still living in relief camps in the state.

Critics say Modi planned the procession to woo Hindu voters ahead of provincial assembly elections which he wants to hold later this year.

The procession was first postponed indefinitely in July at the insistence of Vajpayee, after political parties and the National Human Rights Commission appealed to him to intervene.

—AFP