At least 21 people, including one police officer, have been killed in violent communal clashes in the Indian capital between supporters and opponents of a new law that fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from select countries.
The unrest, which erupted in parts of New Delhi on Monday, coincided with a visit to India by US President Donald Trump. CNN reports.
Policemen stand in front of burned shops in New Delhi following clashes over a new citizenship law on February 24.
Authorities deployed tear gas, as protesters hurled stones, damaged property and set numerous vehicles and a gasoline pump on fire, according to police, as the violence stretched into its second day.
According to CNN, on Wednesday morning, Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s highest elected official, tweeted that police were “unable to control situation and instil confidence” despite ongoing efforts overnight, and requested that the military be called in and a curfew imposed in affected areas.
At least 188 people have been treated in hospital, mostly from bullet injuries, and the rest from blunt force trauma, since the violence began.
Twenty-one people have been declared dead, including a police officer who died from a bullet injury to the head. That number is expected to rise as the counting process continues, Chief Casualty Medical Officer at Delhi’s Guru Tej Bahadur Hospital said Wednesday.
Asad Ali, who works at a factory, said he had witnessed violence in East Delhi. “There are a lot of mobs outside and they are running around with rods breaking windows and destroying vehicles. We aren’t able to leave our houses. They are pelting stones as well,” Ali told CNN.
Several Indian journalists have also been injured covering the clashes. Arvind Gunasekar, a correspondent working for NDTV, told CNN he was in East Delhi reporting on violence at a Muslim graveyard on Monday when a mob of around 20 people turned on him. Gunasekar said the group had been yelling pro-Hindu slogans. CNN has reached out to local police for further comment.