The blackened walls of the burned-out Muslim shrine in New Delhi stood out above the ruins of the small houses and shops - all torched in a frenzy of inter-religious violence that swept across the Indian capital last week.

The Muslim population said the the shrine was torched - as was a mosque a few streets away - while the police stood idly by, failing to quell a Hindu mob that left many with horrific injuries, including gunshot wounds, acid burns, sword strikes and genital mutilation.

The violence left 42 dead and more than 150 injured as the two communities clashed openly in the streets following months of nationwide protest against a divisive new ‘citizenship’ law that discriminates against India’s large Muslims migrant population.

Hindus and Muslims have given contradictory versions of how the protests started in the cramped alleyways and a public square of Chandbagh of Delhi following a demonstration by Muslim women against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The Act recently passed by India’s parliament fast-tracks naturalisation for migrants of other religions over migrant Muslims from neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan that are part of India’s 200m-strong Muslim population.