22 dead as violence in India capital escalates
Violence in India’s capital New Delhi has left at least 22 people dead after rightwing Hindu groups attacked mostly-muslim protesters demonstrating against the country’s new religion-based citizenship law, the worst violence in the city in nearly three decades.
Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send in the army to calm the “alarming” situation, the Press Trust of India reported Wednesday. The city state’s police is not under the control of Kejriwal’s government and takes orders from the federal government.
The violence, which began over the weekend and intensified on Tuesday during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the capital, has highlighted rising religious tensions across India since Modi’s re-election last May. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom urged the government to “rein in mobs and protect religious minorities.”
Footage of the violence showed burning shops and cars and damaged buildings as gangs armed with sticks and rocks roamed the streets.
Police were ordered to shoot rioters at sight in northeast Delhi late Tuesday night after clashes escalated, while the government postponed school exams, the Indian Express reported.
In his first reaction since the riots first broke out on the weekend, Modi tweeted an appeal for peace and harmony on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs didn’t respond to emails seeking comments.
In an urgent midnight hearing held at the home of Justice S. Muralidhar, a twojudge bench of the Delhi High Court directed Delhi Police to ensure safe passage of ambulances to hospitals.
The court will continue hearing the case on Thursday.
Separately, India’s Supreme Court refused to entertain a petition for directing police to take steps to control violence letting a lower court hear the issue. While the Indian capital has its own local government, the security apparatus, including the police force, is under the control of the Modi’s confidant, the federal Home Minister Amit Shah.
India’s main opposition Congress Party’s chief Sonia Gandhi called for Shah to resign for failing to quell the clashes.
The latest clashes mark a high point in tensions between Modi’s government and protesters, who have taken to the streets to push back against India’s new citizenship law, which they say, violates the country’s secular constitution and discriminates against Muslims.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Parliament in December, fast-tracks citizenship for religious minorities from three neighbouring countries, but excludes Muslims.