Death toll in India rises as Modi calls for calm
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for calm after the death toll from Delhi’s worst rioting in decades reached at least 27 and the supreme court criticised police for doing too little to stop the violence.
Clashes that began on Monday between protesters for and against a controversial citizenship law have descended into religious riots, with reports of Hindu mobs targeting Muslims while police looked on.
Days of violence have seen mobs armed with swords, guns and acid rampage through parts of a northeastern district of the Indian capital. The dead have also included a policeman and an intelligence bureau officer.
‘‘I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times. It is important . . . calm and normalcy is restored,’’ Modi said yesterday.
Shops, shrines and vehicles have been burnt out and around 200 people injured, some with bullet wounds.
The violence has overshadowed a visit by United States President Donald Trump.
The new law, which opponents say undermines India’s secular foundation, makes it easier for non-muslim minorities from neighbouring countries to seek citizenship.
Videos shared during the clashes have shown armed police standing by as Hindu mobs attacked Muslims. One clip showed police officers forcing a group of badly beaten and bleeding Muslims to sing the national anthem to prove their loyalty to India. Other footage showed Muslims being made to chant Hindu mantras under police supervision.
The supreme court said police had not done enough to check the violence or incendiary statements by a leader of Bharatiya Janata, Modi’s Hindu nationalist party.
‘‘The problem [with Delhi Police] is a lack of independence and professionalism,’’ Supreme Court Justice Kmjoseph said.
Modi has been accused of stoking communal tensions with an anti-muslim nationalist agenda. The violence has drawn comparisons with previous sectarian riots, including when more than 800 Muslims were killed in Gujarat in 2002 after a train fire killed 60 Hindu pilgrims.
Modi was then chief minister of the state, and he and the police were accused of complicity in the riots. Both were cleared by a commission last year.
Speaking in Islamabad, Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, claimed India was in thrall to Hindu extremists, and asked the world to pay attention.
‘‘What we saw in Delhi last night is just the beginning,’’ Khan said. ‘‘I don’t see how this is going to stop.’’
In Kardampura, a Muslimmajority area where a youth was shot dead on Tuesday, patrols carried out by hundreds of police officers in riot gear failed to reassure residents.
‘‘We are scared and don’t know where to go,’’ said Dr Jeevan Ali Khan. ‘‘If the government wanted, they could have stopped these riots.’’