No less than 25 people have been killed and hundreds of people were injured in the religious riots in New Delhi, as reported by the local media and hospital officials.
Police and paramilitary forces in far greater numbers were patrolling on the street, while the riot-hit regions remain deserted.
Modi’s call was received ahead of criticism by the opposition party that the government failed to control the bloodshed despite using pellets, tear gas, and smoke grenades.
Sonia Gandhi, president of the congress party opposing the Modi administration, said the interior minister Amit shah is directly responsible for the religious violence and called for his resignation.
The director of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital Sunil Kumar, where maximum patients were seeking treatment, told the news agency that more than 60 people had gunshot injuries.
A news reporter from Delhi said “People are asking why did it take four days. Delhi has a police force of 84,000, I believe, yet this violence was allowed to continue”.
As clashes tormented parts of the capital, Modi conducted a copious reception for US President Donald Trump in Delhi ahead of the rally in his home state Gujarat wherein more than 100,000 people participated.
The violence was triggered as thousands of activists gathered for and against the new citizenship law passed by the government.
The citizenship amendment act CAA made it easier for the non-Muslims in neighboring regions to acquire Indian citizenship.
The law is criticized, as it is biased and unfavorable for the Muslims. The CAA tends to challenge India’s secular face; however, the Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party BJP denies any bias against the Muslims.
The CAA has ignited nationwide protests since its inception.
The BJP is alleged to be giving “inflammatory speeches are spreading an atmosphere of hatred and fear” by Congress’s Gandhi.
Subsequent to winning for the second time, the Modi government has invalidated the fractional autonomy of Kashmir, India’s only Muslim majority region, and called for a nationwide registry if citizens to throw out “infiltrators”.
These moves fueled fear in Muslims regarding Modi’s plan to reshape India into a Hindu nation, though he denies the fact.
As chief minister of Gujarat, Modi is accused of doing nothing to put a stop on religious riots in 2002 that killed about 1,000 people, generally Muslims.–Worldwide News