India: Over a dozen killed, hundreds injured in New Delhi riots during Trump visit

New Delhi: Over a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured in a wave of violence in New Delhi on Tuesday during the second day of US President Donald Trump’s first visit to India.

Riots erupted again in several areas of the Indian capital just miles away from where Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met for talks.

India’s capital has been a focus of unrest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which makes it easier for non-Muslims from three neighbouring Muslim-dominated countries to gain Indian citizenship.

TV footage showed huge clouds of smoke billowing from a tyre market that had been set ablaze. Mobs wielding sticks and stones were shown walking down streets in parts of New Delhi, amid further incidents of stone-throwing.

Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its supporters have been accused of targeting Muslims and instigating the violence.

“We have no weapons, but they are firing at us,” said Mohammad Shakir, a demonstrator opposed to the law. “This BJP is targeting Muslims. They want to turn India into a Hindu country.”

According to Reuters, An official at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in New Delhi said 13 people had died there and more than 150 injured had been treated at the hospital, many from bullet wounds.