At least 20 people, including a policeman, were killed in a clash between the supporters of the controversial Citizenship Amendment law and the Muslim opponents in New Delhi streets yesterday.
The protest precisely began on days the president of the USA was on a state visit to India and the protesters were seen attacking each other with wooden sticks, throwing stones and setting the parked vehicles in the vicinity on fire.
According to A.C. Michael, a former member of Delhi Minorities Commission living in the capital state, "The police were standing and witnessing people clashing and shooting with guns. It is for sure that the police and these people were hand in glove as they could bring in pistols and swords without any difficulty to the protest venue."
Michael warned that if the violence is not contained, it could spike and result in a Hindu-Muslim riot.
After the federal government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 11, many protests are being held against the pro-Hindu government to revoke the law.
The law that provides citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, intentionally omits Muslims from the illegal immigrants list.
Apart from Muslims, Christians and other secularists are also protesting against the CAA saying that the law violates the secular principles of the Indian constitution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters expressed that the law is only to help and protect people escaping persecution from neighbouring countries and Muslims are excluded because they do not face religious persecution in these Muslim-majority countries.
But critics condemn the law as it is in-line with the ideology of the pro-Hindu government to make India a Hindu-only nation.
For Michael, what is happening in India these days can also be classified as "state terrorism."
"The state machinery may not be seen to be directly involved in these violent incidents, but there is strong and visible evidence to prove that they have the tacit approval of the government. The federal government is directly responsible for law and order in Delhi as the Delhi police report to the federal home ministry," he said.
