(Image source from: Gujarat burns while Modi tours US})

Gujarat police have arrested 140 people after two men were killed during  a communal clash in the city between Hindus and Muslims that left more than a dozen injured. The clash was caused over an image posted on Facebook.

The violence comes during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, emphasizing India's economic potential.

Gujarat's government had to deploy riot police to control the fray in Vadodara over the weekend. Not just that, it also appealed to religious leaders to intervene and put an end to the violence. Mobile telephone Internet and bulk text messaging has also been suspended for another 4 days to curb the crisis.

"We arrested 140 people on Sunday evening after two men were stabbed," the city's police commissioner, E. Radhakrishnan, said. "The injured are under medical observation and those who have been arrested are being interrogated."

The riot was triggered by an image on social media website Facebook that some Muslims considered offensive to Islam.

Nearly 1,000 Muslims lost their lives during Gujarat riots in 2002. Critics accuse Modi of not doing enough to curb the massacre. However, courts cleared Modi of all allegation owing to insufficient evidence.

Incidentally, a US nonprofit had filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday, just in time of Modi's US trip to New York and Washington, to embarrass him and demand compensatory and punitive damages for alleged crimes against humanity over the 2002 riots.

Back home, in Gujarat, the violence has dampened Navratri celebrations big time. Added to that  the ongoing campaign by radical Hindu groups to bar Muslims and other religious minorities from taking part in the traditionally tolerant festivities.

"The idea of banning Muslims from Hindu festivals has upset the minority but we are determined to keep the celebrations open to all," Radhakrishnan said, adding that tension had begun to ebb.

Police in Vadodara this month arrested a Muslim cleric who had labelled Navratri a "festival of demons".

AW: Suchorita Choudhury