At least 24 dead in Delhi riots over religious citizenship law during Trump's India trip

Source: Chicago Tribune

At least 24 people were killed and 189 injured in three days of clashes in New Delhi that coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump's first state visit to India, with the death toll expected to rise as hospitals continue to take in the wounded, authorities said Wednesday. Shops, Muslim shrines and public vehicles were left smoldering from violence between Hindu mobs and Muslims protesting a new citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for foreign-born religious minorities of all major faiths in South Asia except Islam.

Twenty-four deaths were reported at two hospitals in New Delhi, officials said. The clashes were the worst communal riots in the Indian capital in decades. The law’s passage in December earlier spurred massive protests across India that left 23 dead, many of them killed by police.

While riots wracked northeastern New Delhi over the previous days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a lavish reception for Trump, including a rally in his home state of Gujarat attended by more than 100,000 people and the signing of an agreement to purchase more than $3 billion of American helicopters and other military hardware.

On Wednesday, Modi broke his silence on the clashes, tweeting that “peace and harmony are central to (India's) ethos. I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times."

Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-dehli-india-religious-riots-20200226-nocbrbuiszgt7le2ktg7bi5tn4-story.html