Protests Over India’s Citizenship Act: Thousands held

Indian police yesterday detained thousands of protesters from various venues across the country as they defied bans on assembly in growing anger at a new citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim.    

Meanwhile, at least two persons were killed as police opened fire on demonstrators in the southern city of Mangalore, an official told AFP.

Abdul Jalil, 49, and Samshir Kudroli, 23 died in police firing during the protests, said Qadir Shah, a spokesman for the deputy commissioner of Mangalore, adding that a curfew had been imposed in the city with schools, restaurants and bars shut.

Four others were being treated at a hospital in Mangalore “with bullet injuries following the clashes”, a district medical officer told AFP.

Besides, one person died in Lucknow from what police called “alleged firearm injury” during violent protests.

Authorities banned gatherings in the entire Uttar Pradesh state - India’s most populous - as well as in parts of the country’s northeast, the state of Bihar and cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Two major Indian telecom firms, Vodafone and Airtel, yesterday said they have cut mobile services in parts of New Delhi on government orders.

Police and demonstrators clashed in Uttar Pradesh state as security forces bundled demonstrators onto buses in Delhi and Bangalore, as 19 metro stations were shut in the capital and major roads blocked.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police O.P Singh said police had to fire tear-gas shells to control the situation in Madeyganj area of Lucknow where a police post and a few vehicles were set on fire. About 20 people have been taken into custody, he added.

Tension ran high in some other areas, especially the Muslim-dominated Old City areas of Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, and police officials were having a tough time maintaining law and order.

Congress sources said state unity party chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was detained when he was leading a protest at busy Parivartan Chowk near the District Magistrate’s office.

Two buses were set on fire in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, where protesters and police clashed.

Several teachers of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) took out a silent march opposing the act yesterday. The protestors, including a large number of women teachers, marched from the AMU Teachers Club to the Purani Chungi crossing and circled the campus.

Police fired tear gas in Lucknow while in Modi’s home state of Gujarat police said they baton-charged demonstrators and arrested 50 people.

In Bangalore, one of the 30 protesters dragged onto a police bus was globally renowned historian Ramachandra Guha just as he was giving an interview.

Hundreds of students, activists and supporters of opposition parties - carrying flags and banners – hold protest rallies in Mumbai’s August Kranti Maidan.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday dared ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to go for a UN-monitored referendum on the contentious act and NRC, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Addressing a rally in Esplanade East in Kolkata, she said “if the BJP has guts, it should go for a UN-monitored referendum on amended Citizenship Act and NRC.”

Mamata, who led street marches for the last three consecutive days, steadfastly refused to implement the act and NRC in West Bengal.

In the northeast, where the protests began last week -- albeit for different reasons -- around 20,000 people took to the streets in different locations. No violence was reported however after last week’s deadly clashes.

Curfew imposed in Dibrugarh was relaxed for 14 hours since 6:00 am yesterday but mobile internet services remained suspended, officials said.

Vice-Chancellors of about 20 universities in Assam yesterday appealed to students not to endanger their future but help in maintaining peace and harmony in the state.

Five persons were injured as crude bombs were hurled at a protest march taken out in North Dinajpur district, a police officer said. The agitators had blocked NH 34 for two hours against the incident.

Modi has insisted that his government does not aim to marginalize Muslims, tweeting this week that the new law “does not affect any citizen of India of any religion.”

But many in India’s 200-million-strong Muslim minority fear that they will be the main target of Modi’s plans to implement a national “register of citizens” to remove all “infiltrators” by 2024.