Attackers from an upper-caste militia opened fire on villagers, killing nine people from a lower caste as festering social tensions erupted again in India's troubled state of Bihar, police said yesterday.
Two of the dead were members of a lower-caste militia, and three other villagers suffered gunshot wounds in the attack Friday night in the state's Nawada district, Inspector General Neelmani said.
The attack took place in Chakwai village, some 60km south of Patna, Neelmani said. The victims were chatting after dinner in a village elder's courtyard when armed men raided the village.
PHOTO: AP
The attackers were suspected to be members of the Akhilesh Singh gang, an outfit promoting the interests of the land-owning Bhumihar castes and frequently involved in attacks on lower-caste villagers, the officer said.
Low-caste militias such as the Ashok Mahto, which police said lost two members in Friday night's attack, in turn target upper-caste villagers and rival gangs.
The latest violence was believed to be have been carried out as revenge for the killing of two militia members outside a district court last month. Police surrounded the area and sealed all roads leading out of Nawada district in an attempt to catch the attackers.
Caste tensions run deep in Bihar, one of India's poorest states. The state is the hub of India's caste clashes, which have killed thousands and also occur in other parts of the country.
More than 70 Biharis have been killed in caste-related violence in the past two years, a senior police official said on condition of anonymity.
The lower castes, 80 percent of India's 1 billion people according to the government's estimate, still suffer far more than other groups from inequality according to social indicators such as education, income, employment, asset ownership and debt.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese