India's new government promised on Monday to protect religious minorities and re-write school textbooks that it said were distorted by the previous Hindu nationalist-led coalition government.
President Abdul Kalam told a joint session of parliament the government would fight religious fundamentalism that had led to Hindu-Muslim bloodletting in the western state of Gujarat two years ago.
More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, died when Hindu mobs went on the rampage across Gujarat after 59 Hindu pilgrims were burned to death in a train by a suspected Muslim mob.
Human rights groups put the toll at more than 2,000 and accuse the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which governed Gujarat and the federal coalition at the time, of turning a blind eye to the killings of Muslims.
"It is a matter of serious concern that the forces of communalism have been able to vitiate the atmosphere in the country leading to outbreak of riots, the most gruesome face of which was witnessed recently in Gujarat," Kalam said in a speech laying out the government's policies.
The Congress party, which took power last month at the head of a coalition after the BJP was defeated in elections, has long accused the Hindu nationalists of a deep-seated bias against the country's 120 million Muslims.
The BJP denies any prejudice, but says it is opposed to appeasement of any community.
The Congress coalition also vowed to revamp the school textbooks it said had been injected with a Hindu slant during the previous government.
Critics said the BJP had sought to glorify Hindu rulers in history books while denigrating the period when the Mughal period flourished. Some textbooks also suggested that Muslims and Christians were foreigners, the critics said.
"Steps will be taken to remove the communalisation of the school syllabus that has taken place in recent years," Kalam, a Muslim, said.
The new government also reiterated that a tough anti-terrorism law, which activists said had been abused, would be repealed.
Hundreds of people were detained in Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gives authorities sweeping powers of detention.
Kalam said existing laws were adequate to deal with terrorism.
The new government also said it would maintain the special status of Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir, which allows the region a measure of autonomy.
Kalam said talks with Kashmiri groups initiated by the BJP-led government would be pursued on a sustained basis.
Kashmir's main separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference held talks with top Indian government leaders for the first time ever in January. A new round is expected over the next two months.
"Dialogue with all groups and with different shades of opinion in Jammu and Kashmir will be pursued on a sustained basis," Kalam said.
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