Deadly violence escalates in Delhi
At least 20 killed in Hindu-Muslim strife
NEW DELHI: Escalating violence in India’s capital New Delhi has left at least 20 people dead after 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 yesterday. The city state’s police are not under the control of Kejriwal’s government and take orders from the federal government.
The violence, which began over the weekend and intensified on Tuesday during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the capital, has highlighted rising religious tensions across India since Mr 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 of men armed with sticks and stones roamed the streets. At least three reporters were injured as rioters attacked them. Digital news portal The Wire showed visuals of a vandalised local mosque in a neighbourhood of Delhi, where a flag featuring the Hindu god Hanuman was placed on the minaret.
Police were ordered to shoot rioters at sight in northeast Delhi late on Tuesday night after clashes escalated, while the government postponed school exams that were to be held yesterday, the Indian Express reported.
In his first reaction since the riots first broke out on the weekend, Mr Modi tweeted an appeal for peace and harmony yesterday.
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 two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court directed Delhi Police to ensure safe passage of ambulances to hospitals. It is due to hear the case again this afternoon.
The directions followed a petition by lawyer Suroor Mander, who told the judges that rioters were not allowing grievously injured victims to be transferred from an overcrowded small hospital to a larger and better-equipped one. The judge also heard from a doctor who said he had been calling the police for help for hours without success, according to his statement.
“I am amazed at the state of affairs of Delhi Police,” Justice Muralidhar said, referring to police inaction after inflammatory speeches made before the riots by three leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Separately, India’s Supreme Court was also scheduled to hear another petition yesterday asking that police and state authorities be directed to take steps to stop the violence. While the Indian capital has its own local government, the security apparatus, including the police force, is under the control of Mr Modi’s confidant, the federal Home Minister Amit Shah.
India’s main opposition Congress Party’s chief Sonia Gandhi called for Mr Shah to resign for failing to quell the clashes. “What has happened in Delhi is a colossal failure of duty,” Ms Gandhi said yesterday at a media conference. “The tragic events since last Sunday have a history, design and pattern,” she said, accusing ruling party leaders of creating “an atmosphere of fear and hate”.