Petrol pumps set ablaze, people shot dead and beaten to death, shops and houses damaged and deconstructed, what else needs to happen for the GOI to take an action.
Severe clashes in Delhi broke out between religious groups over CAA protests. Initial clashes started between protesters for and against a controversial citizenship law. But they have since taken on communal overtones, with reports of people being attacked based on their religion.
Photographs, videos and accounts are all over social media and they paint a dark and chilling image of what has happened in last few days. Unarmed men are being beaten, including journalists; groups of men with sticks, iron rods and stones are wandering the streets; and face-off between Hindus and Muslims.
The Delhi High Court, which is hearing petitions about the violence, has said it cannot let “another 1984” happen on its “watch”. In 1984, more than 3,000 Sikhs were killed in anti-Sikh riots in the city.
Prime Minister NarendraModi tweeted on Wednesday, three days after the violence broke out, appealing for peace. He added that he had reviewed the situation and police were working to restore normalcy.
Muslims say the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is part of Prime Minister NarendraModi’s Hindu supremacist agenda and is against the country’s secular ethos.Anil Mittal, a senior police officer, said approximately 150 people were injured in the violence that started as US President Donald Trump arrived on a two-day India trip.
Renewed violence has been reported in Muslim populated areas such as Karawal Nagar, Maujpur, Bhajanpura, Vijay Park and Yamuna Vihar, while stones were thrown in neighbourhoods such as Maujpur.
Tension in parts of the city remained high on Tuesday with schools remaining shut in some areas amid news reports of fresh clashes. At least five metro stations in the city were closed.
Several journalists covering the violence were also attacked by angry mobs at several locations.
“Two of my colleagues ArvindGunasekar and SaurabhShukla were badly beaten by a mob just now in Delhi, they only stopped beating them after realising they are ‘our people – Hindus’. Absolutely despicable,” senior journalist NidhiRazdan wrote on twitter.
Monday’s clashes were among the worst seen in Delhi since the protests against the CAA began in early December.
India’s capital has been a hotbed of protests against the law, which eases the path of non-Muslims from three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries to gain Indian citizenship.
This has led to accusations that Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP are undermining India’s secular ethos.The BJP denies any bias against India’s more than 180 million-strong Muslim minority but objectors have been holding protests and camping out in parts of New Delhi for two months.
