Narendra Modi begins three-day fast today to promote 'communal harmony'

On his 61st birthday today, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will begin a fast that's scheduled to last 72 hours. The agenda, he declared in an open letter earlier this week, is to "strengthen Gujarat's environment of peace, unity and harmony". Mr Modi also waxed eloquent about what he describes as "the unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots".