Deadly violence rocks New Delhi as Trump praises Modi on ‘religious freedom’

[88m3]

Deadly violence rocks New Delhi as Trump praises Modi on ‘religious freedom’
Issued on: 25/02/2020 - 09:38Modified: 25/02/2020 - 18:10

Rival groups engaged in violent clashes over the citizenship law in New Delhi on February 24, 2020. © Danish Siddiqui, Reuters
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Video by:FRANCE 24Follow
At least 10 people have been killed and over 150 injured in clashes between opposing groups of protesters in New Delhi, police said on Tuesday, as riots overshadowed US President Donald Trump's first visit to India.


The clashes, which turned deadly on Monday, are the worst in India's capital since unrest over a new citizenship law began in December.

Fresh violence erupted in multiple areas of northeast Delhi on Tuesday, just miles away from where Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were meeting for talks.

>> Read more: In India, a Trump-Modi bromance with personal business and electability topping the agenda

Reuters witnesses saw mobs wielding sticks and stones walking down streets in parts of northeast Delhi and further incidents of stone-throwing.


"At least nine civilians and one policeman are confirmed dead," said Anil Mittal, a police officer, adding that more than 150 people had been injured since Monday.

Rajesh Kalra, an official at Teg Bahadur Hospital, gave a higher toll of 13 dead, adding that a dozen people were in critical condition.

"We are still receiving some people with injuries, most of them firearm injuries today," he told AFP.

A fire department official said his teams were responding to more than a dozen separate calls relating to arson incidents on Tuesday, as fresh protests flared around the city.

"We have sought police protection as our vehicles are being blocked from entering the affected areas. The situation is very grim," said Delhi Fire Department Director Atul Garg.

Schools in the northeast of the city were shut on Tuesday and at least five metro stations closed.

Appealing for calm, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said "violence will not help find a solution.”

Trump commends Modi

India's capital has been a hotbed of unrest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which makes it easier for non-Muslims from three neighbouring Muslim-dominated countries to gain Indian citizenship.

The CAA has sparked accusations that Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are undermining India's secular traditions.

The BJP denies any bias against India's more than 180 million minority Muslims but objectors have been staging protests and camping out in parts of New Delhi for two months.

>> Watch: 385-mile human chain - Indians line up to protest citizenship law

During his visit, Trump praised India as a tolerant country.

"India is a country that proudly embraces freedom, liberty, individual rights, the rule of law and the dignity of every human being," he told a rally of over 100,000 people in Modi's home state of Gujarat on Monday. "Your unity is an inspiration to the world."

Trump and Modi held talks in New Delhi on Tuesday at a venue located just a few miles away from where the clashes occurred.

After the talks, the US leader commended his host for “working very hard on religious freedom” and refused to discuss the controversial citizenship law.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)


Deadly violence rocks New Delhi as Trump praises Modi on ‘religious freedom’


looks crazy 70 people dead, hundreds injured

 

[Professor Emeritus]

That's pretty bad reporting but it's a really serious issue. The protests have no relation to Trump's visit at all and the Guardian didn't even name the leader that has created the whole situation.


Ever since the Hindu Nationalist government passed a discriminatory anti-Muslim immigration law, there's been protests all over India. One of the longest-lasting protests is a sit-in in the capital, Delhi, where about 1000 Muslim women are sitting in a major road and have been keeping it completely blocked off for two months straight. It is a 100% nonviolent protest almost entirely orchestrated by women.

Their refusal to move has gotten the far-right Hindu Nationalists more and more pissed off. In the recent Delhi elections the Hindu Nationalist party (that controls the federal government but not Delhi itself) ran heavy on the issue, but they lost in a landslide because the current Delhi government has been good to the people.

One of the politicians that lost, Kapil Mishra, is a hardcore Hindu Supremacist and lackey of Modi's federal government who has repeatedly threatened violence against Muslim protesters and literally leads mobs in chants like, "Put a bullet in the traitors! Put a bullet in the traitors!" His anger at the womens' protest boiled over. I'll let Indian news take over from there:

Why was Delhi Police unprepared for violence even after BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s threats?

It all began with an ultimatum on Sunday by BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who threatened to take the law into his own hands if the Delhi Police did not clear out protesters who had occupied public spaces in the area. Mishra stood in front of a police officer and said he would not even listen to the police if nothing had happened within three days. He proceeded to lead a pro-government rally close to a protest site.

Regardless of who began the violence since reporting on this remains unclear, it is apparent that Mishra’s threats were not just known to the police, they took place right in front of an officer. So there could be no excuse for the lack of preparedness for the tensions that followed.

The Indian Express reported that on the very same night of Mishra’s threats, stones were thrown at Muslim houses and their residents targeted. By Monday morning, things were even more tense. Yet the police were present in very small numbers, as noted by Reuters’ Devjyot Ghoshal.

Reporters at the spot said even where the police were present, they did not act. “At 5.10 pm, a mob of young men saw a garment shop and a pan shop across the street from the temple,” said another report in the Indian Express. “Over 20 police personnel watched as young men, some teenagers, broke down banners, shutters, and looted the pan shop.”

Even more disturbingly, the police seemed to participate in the violence. Reuters’ Ghoshal posted a video in which police personnel instructed an anti-Muslim mob on when to thrown stones, with one official joining in.

In contrast to the situation at the site of the protests against the CAA, where police were frequently using tear gas in an attempt to disperse crowds, the anti-Muslim mob sites had a more “festive” mood, with food being distributed to the police, The Wire reported.

“When we came into the area commandeered by the Hindutva group, the most notable thing was the aura of festivity,” the Wire report said. “A large group of people was shouting slogans, including the now notorious ‘goli maaro saalon ko’ [put a bullet in the traitors], while groups of people distributed biscuits. A man was carrying around a large tray filled with plates of upma, which he was giving the policemen standing by, a significant number of whom were happily partaking of the food.”

By Monday evening, the Delhi Police had put out a few statements acknowledging the casualties and injuries, and calling on people to maintain peace. Yet by night, the Gokulpuri tyre market – which has a significant Muslim presence – and a mosque nearby was set on fire, even though it is right next to the area’s police station.

Despite all of these developments and widespread reporting on the inadequate presence of the Delhi Police, the same situation seemed to play out even on Tuesday morning.

This is at least the fifth separate pro-government riot I know of in the last two months were the police openly aided the rioters.

 

[FAH1223]

 

[the cac mamba]

jesus christ, this motherfukker is inciting riots in foreign countries

 

[88m3]

Bloomberg Politics
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An episode of John Oliver’s show that criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been blocked in India by Hotstar, the local platform run by Walt Disney

An episode of John Oliver’s show that criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been blocked in India by Hotstar, the local platform run by Walt Disney Co.

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Disney India Blocks John Oliver Show Critical of Narendra Modi

 

[ADevilYouKhow]

@Rhakim have Trump and Gabbard spoke out yet about the violence?

 

[Starman]

The protests have no relation to Trump's visit at all

jesus christ, this motherfukker is inciting riots in foreign countries

Anyway, I just hope all of @śïñe•qúå_nøn are safe.

And thanks to @Rhakim for following such a remote (for most of us) issue in such great detail. Regardless of where any of us falls on it, you're clearly both knowledgeable and passionate.

 

[88m3]

Regardless of where any of us falls on it

waste of life

 

[Starman]

waste of life

Beat it.

 

[88m3]

Beat it.

frail wannabe nazi

 

[FAH1223]

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Both parties have perfected the merge of rich businessmen who just want to make money, religious nationalists, and racists into a single agenda. They share a platform of protecting business interests rather than the poor, giving the police free reign to harass minority groups, dismissing science, hating Muslims, blaming women for rape, tolerating notorious women-abusers within their ranks, holding an irrational hatred for legendary freedom-fighters from within their own country's history, and exploiting religious sentiments for political gain. They're two of the most naturally aligned parties that I know of. If it wasn't for their racist supporters occasionally killing each other, they could practically merge.

 

[Json]

What do they think is going to happen with a Dem in office?

 

[19-]

this motherfukker praising religious freedom in a country with state-aided pogroms
i just want it to end

 

[jj23]

What do they think is going to happen with a Dem in office?

Relations normalise, and they no longer have someone who will praise a brutal regime in exchange for Trump Tower India.

Not the scenario Modi wants.