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Riot toll climbs to 700

Rao seeks to broaden alliance against BJP
NEW DELHI, Dec 9: Prime Minister PV Naraslmha Rao Wednesday sought to broaden his political support against Hindu nationalists to help quell the religious riots that consumed India for the third straight day, reports AP.
The death toll in Hindu-Muslim fighting climbed close to 700 in the escalating violence that followed the destruction of an ancient, mosque by Hindu extremists on Sunday, news agencies reported. More than 200 people died on Wednesday alone.
The government put the official toll at 560 dead and 2,475 wounded. The news agencies complied their tolls from local police stations and were likely to be more accurate.
Bombay and other cities were silenced by a nationwide strike called by the Hindu na-
tionalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, to protest the arrest of its leader on charges of instigating the mosques demolition.
In towns and city neighborhoods across the nation, millions of people remained in their homes under curfew enforced by army troops who, in some places, were empowered to shoot violators on sight.
Rao met leaders of the National Front, a leftist opposition coalition, to appeal for an alliance against the BJP. He accused the BJP of "extreme perfidy" by encouraging the zealots who tore apart the mosque in the northern holy town of Ayodhya.
Rao’ Congress Party falls short of a majority in Parliament, and he appeared to be suggesting a broadened , coalition to isolate the
Bharatiya Janata.
The Front did not announce a response. It previously had accused Rao of responsibility for allowing hundreds of thousands of Hindu fanatics into Ayodhya and demanded that he quit
Meanwhile, stories of brutality and desecrations began to emerge from the backlash of the Ayodhya incident.
The town of Nuh, 60 miles (80 kms) north of New Delhi, was one of the first to feel Muslim wrath. On Monday, 2,000 Muslims stormed into the town in trucks, armed with daggers and iron bars. They ransacked 10 Hindu temples and several businesses. shouting "kill the Hindu dog," said a 78-year-old priest, Rameshwar Nand.
Bombay's massive slum district, Dharabi, a patchwork of Hindu and Muslim colonies has
become a war zone. Nightly, raiding parties attack neighboring colonics with knives, hatchets, gasoline-filled bottles and light bulbs filled with acid.
The stock market, the country-? largest, was closed for the fourth day in Bombay. Economists and businessmen were concerned that the unrelenting violence would cast doubts on Rao's drive to encourage foreign investment through his liberalizing reforms,
Muslim religious bodies appealed for calm, asking their people not to attack Hindus and refrain from violence. The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader and Nobel Peace prize laureate, also Issued a call for tolerance and mutual respect.
BJP leaders LK Advani. Murli Manohar Joshi and several other nationalist leaders were to appear in court on Thursday in Faizabad, Ayodhya's twin city, to face criminal charges.
They were indicted on three counts of inciting religious enmity and violence through their speeches allegedly encouraging Hindu zealots to destroy the mosque.