Death toll reaches 35 after India riots

New Delhi's worst communal rioting in decades has left 35 dead, following armed violence between Hindu and Muslim populations in the northeastern reaches of the Indian capital. 

Meanwhile, thousands of riot police and paramilitaries patrolled the affected neighborhoods in an effort to curb the violence. The riots followed months of anti-government protests in Muslim communities.

Read more: India's Premier Modi appeals for calm after Delhi riots

More than 200 people have been injured since late Sunday in clashes that saw large groups of Hindus and Muslims fighting each other with swords and guns, and left thousands of properties and vehicles burned.

Muslim 'massacres'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed what he called "massacres" of Muslims in India on Thursday.

"India right now has become a country where massacres are widespread. What massacres? Massacres of Muslims. By who? Hindus," he said during a speech in Ankara.

Tensions have been building over a new citizenship law that critics say will further marginalize the country's 200-million-strong Muslim population. Some also believe that the law threatens India's secular society by turning it into a Hindu state.

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Erdogan, a devout Muslim, often takes public stands on issues concerning Islam and its followers. He accused the mobs of hurting children studying with "metal sticks as if to kill" them. "How will these people make global peace possible? It is impossible," he said.

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Many of the Muslims in India fear that the law will leave them stateless or send them to detention camps. Modi's right-wing ruling party hasdenied the allegationsbut in recent weeks members have called protesters "anti-nationals" and "jihadists," according to Turkish state broadcaster TRT World. 

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lc/aw (AFP, AP)