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Civil Disturbances

CIVIL DISTURBANCES: Urban demonstrations pose risks to travelers' personal safety and can disrupt transportation systems and city services. In response to such events, Indian authorities occasionally impose curfews and/or restrict travel. Political rallies and demonstrations in India have the potential for violence, especially immediately preceding and following elections. U.S. citizens are urged to avoid demonstrations and rallies. In addition, religious and inter-caste violence occasionally occurs unpredictably. In early 2002, violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat resulted in at least 950 deaths according to official figures. Unofficial sources put the death toll at up to 2,000 deaths. Many U.S. citizens were living or visiting in areas where clashes occurred, although none is known to have been among the casualties. Communal violence can also break out in other areas with little or no advance warning. While such violence rarely targets foreigners, mobs have attacked Indian Christian workers.
Missionary activity has aroused strong reactions in some areas -usually rural - and in January 1999, a mob murdered an Australian missionary and his son in the eastern state of Orissa. In January 2003, a visiting U.S. citizen was attacked in Kerala by Hindu activists who accused him of preaching to the local community, although he held a tourist, not missionary, visa. Nevertheless, the principal risk for foreigners is that they could become inadvertent victims.

U.S. citizens should read local newspapers and contact the U.S. Embassy or the nearest U.S. Consulate for further information about the current situation in areas where they wish to travel.

During the Dassera festival season and the Diwali festival of lights, U.S. citizen travelers to Calcutta and Eastern India should exercise additional caution. These holidays are often accompanied by large and sometimes unruly crowds, especially in the immediate vicinity of the Pandals (elaborately decorated temporary structures). Such concentrations heighten the risk of petty theft, accidental injury, and crowd disturbances. Transportation, even for emergency purposes, is more difficult during the holiday season, and travelers may become disoriented amidst large, flowing crowds. The United States Consulate General in Calcutta is available to assist U.S. citizens in emergencies, should they arise.