NEW DELHI: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged India onThursday to “confront extremist Hindus” and “stop the massacre of Muslims”,adding to the international fallout over deadly violence in New Delhi.
At least 44 people were killed and hundreds injured in the worst communalriots in the Indian capital in decades.
“The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre ofMuslims in India,” Khamenei said in a tweet in English, just days after NewDelhi rebuked Iran’s foreign minister for commenting on the same issue.
“Iran condemns the wave of organized violence against Indian Muslims,”Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday, in response towhich New Delhi summoned the Islamic Republic’s ambassador and lodged aprotest.
“We do not expect such comments from a country like Iran,” ministryspokesman Raveesh Kumar said in a statement later.
The citizenship law provides non-Muslims from neighbouring countries a fasttrack to Indian citizenship.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government says this isrequired to help minorities from those countries. Critics argue the lawdiscriminates against Muslims and violates the spirit of India’s secularconstitution.
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in protests since December.
Earlier this week, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for HumanRights said it intended to approach India’s Supreme Court about thecitizenship law. – Reuters
