Dozens of people have been injured in a caste war over a land dispute in India's most populous state.
More than 60 high-caste Thakurs opened fire on a group of Dalits, once called "untouchables", trying to stop them taking back land given to the landless lower castes by the Uttar Pradesh state government of Chief Minister Mayawati, herself a Dalit.
The unarmed Dalits had tried to defend themselves withsticks and rocks. Ten Thakurs have been arrested.
About 48 Dalits were injured in Wednesday's clash atTajopur village in northern Uttar Pradesh . Six remain inhospital in a critical condition with gunshot wounds, a Home(Interior) Department official said.
Caste clashes are common across India, which has a rigid2,500-year-old Hindu caste hierarchy. But this is the firstmajor clash in Uttar Pradesh, home to more than 166 millionpeople, since Ms Mayawati took power early last year.
Despite anti-discrimination laws, India's 140 millionDalits suffer tremendous discrimination. Last year, five were slaughtered by a mob after being accused of killing a cow, which is holy in India. Officials then ordered an autopsy on the cow but not themen.