08:23 (IST)
USCIRF urges Modi govt to protest minorities
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a statement on the violence being witnessed in Delhi. "USCIRF is alarmed by reports of deadly mob violence targeting Muslims in New Delhi, India and urges the Modi government to rein in mobs and protect religious minorities and others who have been targeted," the statement said.
This statement comes a day after US President Donald Trump left from Delhi after a 36-hour-visit. Even as he was in Delhi on Tuesday, widespread arson and tensions were witnessed in northeast Delhi, which later spread to east Delhi.
Delhi Violence Over CAA Protest LATEST Updates: Communal violence over the amended citizenship law escalated in northeast Delhi on Tuesday taking the death toll to 13 as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.
After overnight incidents of arson, tension smouldered in the national capital and as the day progressed streets in several localities like Chand Bagh, Bhajanpura, Gokulpuri, Maujpur, Kardampuri and Jaffrabad saw pitched battles between the members of two groups who also hurled petrol bombs and opened fire. Late in the night, locals in Maujpur area claimed that announcements were being made by police on loudspeakers about promulgation of shoot-at-sight orders, but Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Ved Prakash Surya denied it.
Over 200 people, including 48 police personnel, have been injured and half of the civilians have suffered gunshot wounds, hospital authorities said. The violence, which started on Sunday after anti-CAA protests blocked a road outside Jaffrabad Metro station and BJP leader Kapil Mishra called a gathering in favour of CAA, intensified on Tuesday, despite shored up security in the city in view of US President Donald Trump's visit.
The protesters withdrew from the site on Tuesday night. As Delhi Police faced allegations of inaction, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting at noon with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, city police commissioner Amulya Patnaik and others on steps to restore peace. IPS officer SN Shrivastava was appointed as the new Delhi Police Special Commissioner (Law and Order) after the Union Home Ministry repatriated him from the CRPF on Tuesday night to take control of the situation in the wake of communal violence in the city, officials said.
Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Singh Randhawa said 11 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence. Over 20 persons have been detained and only one person, identified as Shahrukh who had fired a few rounds in the air after brandishing a gun at a policeman, has been arrested. Sixty-seven companies of police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across the area, police sources said.
Mediapersons were also attacked. Akshay, a journalist with JK 24X7 News, received a bullet injury and was in a serious condition in hospital, and two reporters from NDTV were beaten and punched by rioters. Many other journalists were heckled and told to go back.
Rioters damaged two fire tenders in Gokulpuri and crowds raising incendiary slogans set on fire fruit carts, rickshaws and anything that came in their way in the epicentre of the trouble Maujpur and other places. Police fired teargas shells to disperse the rioters -- armed with stones, rods and even swords and many wearing helmets to protect themselves -- and was assisted by paramilitary personnel.
The meeting presided by Shah resolved that workers of political parties should join hands to restore peace and peace committees should be reactivated in all localities. Schools were shut and fearful residents stayed indoors as mobs roamed the streets, seemingly unmindful of prohibitory orders restricting the assembly of more than four people imposed on Monday.
Around 5 pm in Chand Bagh, for instance, security personnel were pelted with stones. They chased the mob, only to be attacked afresh with some people also armed with petrol bombs. Five stations on the Delhi Metro's Pink Line were closed for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in the wake of the trouble.
Police in Uttar Pradesh have enhanced security and patrolling along Ghaziabad and Noida borders with Delhi. The Noida police said it was on “high alert” and Section 144 of the CrPC, which bars assembly of four or more people, was in place in the district, while the Police Armed Constabulary (PAC) has also been deployed in huge numbers.
A stampede-like situation occurred in Laxmi Nagar around 6 pm over rumours of “gunshots being fired” in nearby Khureji Khas, which has been an anti-CAA protest site and witnessed violence in last two days.
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/39XrlLI
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