India Deploys Police To Protect Mosques, Arrests 500 Over Violence
The government of India has deployed the police to the mosques at Gurugram, to prevent further confrontation between Hindus and Muslims, ahead of Friday prayers.
Furthermore, the government said the police had arrested 514 persons allegedly involved in the Hindu-Muslim violence which has been ongoing since Sunday.
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“In the prevailing situation, we don’t want to take any chance,” a senior police official said.
The police has also confirmed that about 35 people have been killed in the riot.
The crisis is believed to be connected to the Indian citizenship Act of 2019.
But the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi urged citizens to show restraint and tolerate people’s religious differences in the nation.
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THE WHISTLER reported that India’s cabinet had approved a bill to grant religious-based nationality to refugees persecuted in neighboring countries; but the new law excluded those of the Muslim faith.
India’s local media say the police has also ordered heavy deployment of personnel in open places aside religious sites in the area.
However, the United Nations had issued a warning that the law falls short of the UN charter on freedom of religion.
“Although India’s broader naturalization laws remain in place, these amendments will have a discriminatory effect on people’s access to nationality”, Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
