NEW DELHI: Indian lawmakers pushed and shoved each other in parliament on Monday (Mar 2) after opposition parties demanded the resignation of interior minister Amit Shah over the handling of deadly riots triggered by a citizenship law that excludes Muslims.
Police said on Monday that at least 41 people had died in two days of Hindu-Muslim clashes in New Delhi last week, the worst communal riots in the capital in decades.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party says the law, which grants refuge to non-Muslim minorities from across south Asia, is required to protect those groups from persecution. Critics say it is discriminatory and contravenes the spirit of India's secular constitution.
READ: Tensions high in New Delhi as death toll from sectarian riots rises to 38
READ: Modi says citizenship law not anti-Muslim as protests continue across India
Hundreds of thousands of people – led by students and Muslim groups – have been demonstrating for more than two months, amid fears that the government will also launch a population register that could leave many Muslims stateless.
Advertisement
Advertisement
A week ago, a mob of several hundred people chanting Hindu nationalist slogans torched two mosques and dozens of Muslim houses, eyewitnesses said, while nearby houses carrying Hindu symbols were left untouched.
In parliament on Monday, opposition legislators shouted slogans and waved posters demanding that Shah, who controls Delhi&Read More – Source
NEW DELHI: Indian lawmakers pushed and shoved each other in parliament on Monday (Mar 2) after opposition parties demanded the resignation of interior minister Amit Shah over the handling of deadly riots triggered by a citizenship law that excludes Muslims.
Police said on Monday that at least 41 people had died in two days of Hindu-Muslim clashes in New Delhi last week, the worst communal riots in the capital in decades.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party says the law, which grants refuge to non-Muslim minorities from across south Asia, is required to protect those groups from persecution. Critics say it is discriminatory and contravenes the spirit of India's secular constitution.
READ: Tensions high in New Delhi as death toll from sectarian riots rises to 38
READ: Modi says citizenship law not anti-Muslim as protests continue across India
Hundreds of thousands of people – led by students and Muslim groups – have been demonstrating for more than two months, amid fears that the government will also launch a population register that could leave many Muslims stateless.
Advertisement
Advertisement
A week ago, a mob of several hundred people chanting Hindu nationalist slogans torched two mosques and dozens of Muslim houses, eyewitnesses said, while nearby houses carrying Hindu symbols were left untouched.
In parliament on Monday, opposition legislators shouted slogans and waved posters demanding that Shah, who controls Delhi&Read More – Source
