New Delhi - Indian police detained thousands of people in
various locations across the country on Thursday after they defied a
ban to protest against a new citizenship law.
The protests took place in more than a dozen cities including New
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Most were peaceful,
but violence broke out in some places.
The controversial Citizenship Amendment Act approved last week makes
it easier for non-Muslim illegal migrants from three Muslim-majority
countries - Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan - to acquire Indian
citizenship if they are facing religious persecution.
Critics say it goes against India's secular constitution by making
religion a basis for granting citizenship.
The ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says it
will not affect any citizen of India - including Muslims - but is
only aimed at giving relief to those who have fled religious
persecution in the three Muslim-majority countries.
The citizenship law has seen a spate of violent protests in the
country over the past week, including in the north-eastern states
bordering Bangladesh where ethnic tribal communities fear an influx
of migrants across their borders with Bangladesh.
On Thursday, stone-throwing protesters clashed with police and set
fire to vehicles in the Uttar Pradesh state capital of Lucknow, where
orders prohibiting gatherings of more than five people are in place.
At least one person died during the violent protests in Lucknow as
police struggled to disperse protesters. Three were injured.
Clashes were also reported from the Gujarat capital Ahmedabad, and
the city of Mangalore in Karnataka, where curfews were imposed and
police used force to disperse protesters.
Elsewhere the protests - largely attended by students, civil society
groups and opposition parties - were largely peaceful with thousands
of people detained and removed in buses by police.
Bans on large gatherings have been in place in most of the
aforementioned cities since early morning.
In Bangalore, protesters who gathered despite the ban were detained
including eminent historian Ramchandra Guha, a critic of the
government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I am protesting in a non-violent way. Why are we being stopped?"
Guha was seen saying on NDTV news channel as police dragged him away.
In the capital more than 1,000 protesters gathering to join a march
near the Red Fort were detained, NDTV news channel reported. Most of
them were transported away from the area in buses and released.
A large group, mostly students, gathered at Jantar Mantar in the
heart of New Delhi. They shouted slogans and offered roses to police
to show they were protesting peacefully.
At least 18 metro stations in New Delhi remained closed until late
evening.
Police set up barricades at the outer borders of New Delhi and were
screening passengers, which led to massive traffic jams. Many people
missed flights and two dozen depaartures from New Delhi were
cancelled.
Access to data services and the internet were restricted in the New
Delhi area in compliance with a government order.
In Mumbai, celebrities and actors from the Bollywood film industry
joined hundreds of protesters at the sprawling Azad Maidan grounds.
"Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isahi (Christian) - we are all brothers," said
one poster. "Stop dividing India on religious lines," said another.