ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Wednesday condemned the anti-Muslim violence in New Delhi, urging secular forces within India to rise against barbaric actions such as vandalising a mosque.
In a post on the social networking platform Twitter, Alvi shared a video of a Hindu supremacist mob climbing on a minaret of a mosque and said that the visuals seemed to be a reminder to Muslims of the Babri Masjid episode.
"Another update of the disgraceful act. Vandalising a mosque! It seems to be a reminder to Muslims of the Babri Masjid episode. I think secular forces within India should rise against such barbaric actions," he said.
The United Nations on Tuesday also expressed concern over the deadly clashes between Hindus and Muslims in New Delhi in which 19 people have reportedly been killed and a mosque set on fire during protest demonstrations against the controversial Indian citizenship law.
“We are obviously following the situation closely,” the UN Secretary-General’s Spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in response to a question at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
He underscored the need for the Indian security forces to show restraint and to allow the protestors to demonstrate peacefully. “This is the Secretary-general’s constant position,” the spokesman added.
According to BBC, the current unrest is an embarrassment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it has taken the spotlight away from Donald Trump’s visit. BBC said it reporters in north-east Delhi saw Hindu mobs throwing stones and shouting slogans, with some in the crowd shouting “shoot the traitors”.
They also saw plumes of smoke rising from a tyre market that has been set on fire. In another incident on Tuesday afternoon, a mosque was vandalized in the Shahadra area. Widely shared footage showed men trying to rip the crescent from the top of the minaret, and planting a saffron flag.