The government of India should confront extremist Hindus: Khamenei

"The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam," he said.

Hindu attacks against Muslims began in the Jaffrabad area of North East Delhi on the night of 23 February 2020, and caused the deaths of 53 people, most of whom were Muslim. Muslims were targeted by the rioters. The properties destroyed were disproportionately Muslim-owned and included four mosques, which were set ablaze by rioters. The Indian government swiftly characterized the violence to be spontaneous. Many Muslims have since had to leave these neighborhoods.

Earlier, in Jaffrabad, a sit-in by women against India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 had begun on a stretch of the Seelampur–Jaffrabad–Maujpur road. On 23 February 2020, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Mishra demanded the Delhi Police to clear roads that had been occupied by protesters, and threatened to forcefully end the protests if the police failed to do so.

By the next day, gangs wearing helmets and carrying sticks, stones, sabres or pistols and the saffron flags of Hindu nationalism had begun to rush violently into the neighborhood, while the police stood passively by. Mobs took to using guns; most deaths, which included those of two policemen, have been attributed to gunfire. (ILKHA)