Failure of leadership

Sanders blasts Trump for Delhi response

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The Statesman/ANN
A day after US lawmakers reacted sharply to the violence in the national capital, frontrunner in the Democratic presidential election, Bernie Sanders slammed US President Donald Trump for failing to address the issue of human rights while he was visiting India.

Asked about incidents of violence during his visit, the US president had said, "As far as the individual attacks, I heard about it, but I didn't discuss that with him (PM Modi). That's up to India."

Reacting to the issue, Bernie Sanders on Wednesday tweeted, "Over 200 million Muslims call India home. Widespread anti-Muslim mob violence has killed at least 27 and injured many more. Trump responds by saying "That's up to India". This is a failure of leadership on human rights."

Bernie Sanders is the second Democratic presidential nominee after Senator Elizabeth Warren to speak against the violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act in New Delhi.

Apart from the Democratic presidential candidate, US House Foreign Affairs Committee too expressed concern over the developments on Wednesday.

Warner and Cornyn are co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, the largest country-specific caucus in the US Senate. Congressman Jamie Raskin said he was horrified by the violence, which was fueled by religious hatred and fanaticism.

"Liberal democracies must protect religious freedom and pluralism, and avoid the path of discrimination and bigotry," the Congressman said. Richard N Hass, who heads the powerful Council on Foreign Relations, said the reason for India's relative success has been that its large Muslim minority saw itself as Indian.

"But this is at risk owing to govt attempts to exploit identity politics for political advantage," he said. Earlier in the day, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom urged the Government of India to take swift action for the safety of its citizens.