Amid anti-Muslim violence, India sees more protests

In India, latest reports are of more protests amid a recent wave of sectarian riot which has left several dozen Muslims dead and hundreds more injured in the capital New Delhi over a time span of one week.

News ID: 449427

Date: 05 March 2020 - 14:28

On Wednesday, activists from various sides of the political spectrum took part in a demonstration in Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state, against the recent violence as well as an anti-Muslim law.

A similar demonstration was held in New Delhi, with the demonstrators carrying flags and posters against the law.

The angry demonstrators chanted slogans against the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, vowing to keep up the pressure until the new citizenship law was scrapped.

They demanded resignation of Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, who is the chief strategist of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a close aide to Modi.

Activists of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) party are reflected in the side mirror of a parked car in Kolkata as they take part in a protest against the recent sectarian riots in India's capital, March 4, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Last week, in the worst communal violence in decades in New Deli, nearly 50 people were killed and over 100 wounded as groups chanting Hindu nationalist slogans torched mosques and dozens of Muslim houses.

According to the UK-based newspaper Independent, Hindu nationalist mobs roamed the streets of New Delhi on February 23, “burning and looting mosques together with Muslim homes, shops and businesses.”

“They killed or burned alive Muslims who could not escape and the victims were largely unprotected by the police,” the daily said in a Friday article, underlining that dozens of Muslims “were killed and many others beaten half to death” — including a two-year-old baby that was “stripped by a gang to see if he was circumcised, as Muslims usually are but Hindus are not.”

Since the passage of the controversial act on December 11, thousands of people across India, led mainly by Muslims and students, have been protesting against the legislation.

So far, the violence has killed more than 75 people across the country.

Critics say the new law in India is a grave threat to its secular constitution. The BJP has denied it has any bias against India's more than 180 million Muslims.