29 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday hit out against “massacres” committed against Muslims in India after riots in New Delhi left at least 33 dead.
“India right now has become a country where massacres are widespread. What massacres? Massacres of Muslims. By who? Hindus,” Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara after violence broke over a citizenship law.
Over 200 people were injured and at least 42 killed since late Sunday after groups armed with swords and guns fought in the city, Reuters reported. Thousands of properties and vehicles were touched in the violence. It was the worst outbreak of sectarian violence in a big Indian city since 2002 when more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in riots in Gujarat, The Financial Times reported today.
According to a document seen by AFP the victims are a roughly even mix of Hindus and Muslims, based on their names.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation also condemned the violence in Delhi, “expressing its sincere condolences to the families of the victims” and describing the acts as “heinous”.
A human right activist from New Delhi shared a footage showing that Hindutva, name of a group seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus, mobs burn down a Muslim family`s home. They are hiding from being hunted down and slaughtered.
On Wednesday, United States Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders also accused US President Donald Trump of failing on the issue of human rights after he refused to be drawn into criticising New Delhi for its handling of riots in the capital.
Sanders said Trump’s statement regarding the violence in New Delhi during his India visit was a “failure of leadership”.
