NEW DELHI: Death toll reached to 26 deaths and hundreds were injured in the protests that gripped India after its government passed a new citizenship law (Citizenship Amendment Act 2019) on December 12.
The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan before 2015.
It singles out Muslims, who make up nearly 15% of the India’s population. According to protesters, it is aimed at disturbing their permanent settlements in the country.
Amid the protests, several Indian cities have announced closure of educational institutions, transport and internet services. In Uttar Pradesh alone, 18 death have been reported.
Tensions are brewing in New Delhi too where anti-Modi protests are being held and the police and protesters are clashing every day.
Many people have criticised the law and said it would make thousands of illegal immigrants into legal residents and not do anything to change the status of minorities in the county. Muslims also came out to protest the law, saying it does not give them the same rights to citizenship as followers of other religions.
Muslim students, mainly in Aligarh and Uttar Pradesh, have taken to the streets to demand the government withdraw its new law.
Five major Indian states, West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, have said that they won’t implement the law. They termed the move “unconstitutional”.
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