Inside Story

Can religious violence in India be contained?

Tension is running high in India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial citizenship law.

Thousands of Indians have been protesting against a controversial law they say discriminates against Muslims.

But the tension around the Citizenship Amendment Act has taken a dangerous turn.

The capital, New Delhi, has seen days of violence considered some of the worst in decades.

Hindu crowds have been accused of attacking Muslims on the streets.

Many have been killed in three days of confrontations that started on Sunday evening.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for calm. His government has been under pressure since it passed the law that provides citizenship to immigrants from neighbouring countries, but excludes Muslims.

Modi’s critics accuse him of using a set of anti-Muslim measures to steer the country towards becoming a Hindu nationalist state.

So, with the continuing violence, could the government consider withdrawing the law?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Karuna Nundy – Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and a human rights lawyer

Meenakshi Ganguly – South Asia director at Human Rights Watch

Shruti Kapila – Indian historian and lecturer at the University of Cambridge