The protests come days after a 15-year-old Muslim boy, Junaid Khan, was stabbed to death on a train not far from the capital by a group of men. Eyewitnesses said the men screamed "beef eater" while attacking Khan.

Earlier this week, independent filmmaker and author Saba Dewan called for a nationwide protest urging Indians across the country to stand against the ongoing spate of violence. Wednesday's citizen protests, which were being organized in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhopal and Bengaluru, come amid reports that a group of people beat up a Muslim dairy owner in Jharkhand, and put his house on fire.