India protests spread over ‘anti-Muslim’ law

NEW DELHI: Fresh protests were expected across India on Monday (Dec 16) over a new citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, after clashes overnight in the capital and days of unrest in the northeast that left six people dead.

The bill fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from three neighbouring countries, but critics allege it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims – something he denies.

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READ: Six dead in protests against Indian citizenship law

On Sunday evening thousands took to the streets in the northeast, the scene of days of rioting and deadly running battles with police, while other protests were reported across India in Delhi, Aligarh, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Patna and Raipur.

In the capital, officers fired tear gas and charged with batons as several thousand demonstrators marched, and rallied outside the Jamia Millia Islamia university and police headquarters.

Four buses and two police vehicles were reportedly set ablaze.

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Police stormed the university campus, with media outlets reporting as many as 100 students and a dozen officers were injured.

Around 50 people were detained and released after a night behind bars on Monday, police said.

Students insisted in a statement that they disassociated themselves from any violence.

"We have time and again maintained that our protests are peaceful and non-violent. We stand by this approach and condemn any party involved in the violence," they declared.

Authorities in northern Uttar Pradesh have snapped internet access in western parts of the state following the demonstrations on Aligarh, home to a large university and a sizeable Muslim population.

However the main epicentre of the protests has been in India's far-flung northeastern states, long a seething and violent melting pot of ethnic tensions.

There people are opposed to the citizenship law because they fear it will allow several hundred thousand immigrants from BRead More – Source