Hindus, Muslims Clash Over India Citizenship Law

At least 20 people were killed in three days of clashes in New Delhi apparently sparked by President Donald Trump’s first state visit to India, with the death toll expected to rise as hospitals were

At least 20 people were killed in three days of clashes in New Delhi apparently sparked by President Donald Trump’s first state visit to India, with the death toll expected to rise as hospitals were overflowed with dozens of injured people, authorities said Wednesday.

New Delhi’s top elected official, Chief Minister Arjind Kerjiwal, called Wednesday for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the Indian army to areas in a northeastern corner of the sprawling capital affected by the riots.

Police characterized the situation as tense but under control. Schools remained closed, and a ban on assembly continued.

The clashes between Hindu mobs and Muslims protesting a contentious new citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for foreign-born religious minorities of all major faiths in South Asia except Islam escalated Tuesday, according to Rouf Khan, 43, a resident of Mustafabad, an area in northeast New Delhi.

Khan said the mobs were wielding iron rods, bricks and bamboo sticks and attacked the homes of Muslims amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram,” or “Victory to Lord Ram,” the popular Hindu god of the religious epic “Ramayana.”