NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election rally for his Hindu nationalist party on Sunday after another day of violent clashes between police and protesters demonstrating against a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims.
Twenty-three people have been killed nationwide in the protests since the law was passed in Parliament earlier this month.
Most of the deaths have occurred in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where 20% of the state’s 200 million people are Muslim. Police deny any wrongdoing. Among the 15 people killed in the state was an 8-year-old boy who died in a stampede, police said.
Authorities have scrambled to contain the situation, banning public gatherings and blocking internet access.
Modi took the stage at a rally launching his Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for New Delhi legislative assembly elections in February. He urged a sea of supporters to chant, “Unity in diversity is India’s specialty.”
