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India Citizenship Law: 5,200+ Detained in Uttar Pradesh as Protests Continue

India Citizenship Law: 5,200+ Detained in Uttar Pradesh as Protests Continue
folder_openAsia-Pacific... access_time4 years ago
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By Staff, Agencies

Hundreds of people were detained by authorities in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, as more than 60 shops were sealed in response to the protests over an anti-Muslim new citizenship law.

According to officials, 15 people were killed during protests across the state. However, local media put the figure beyond 15.

"We are compiling the data on arrests and number of shops sealed and would share that with media soon," senior police official Shirish Chandra told Xinhua. "A total of 15 deaths have taken place and we are trying to gather further details."

The officials in Muzaffarnagar district said 67 shops were sealed by authorities.

Meanwhile, police said they have detained 5,205 people, 705 of whom remain in custody.

"We have arrested 705 people in the state and released 4,500 people on signed bonds who were taken into detention," Praveen Kumar, a senior police official in charge of law and order in Uttar Pradesh said.

Over a dozen districts in the state including the capital city Lucknow have witnessed protests and clashes over the new citizenship law in India. Violent protests broke out in the state on Thursday and intensified on Friday.

Prohibitory orders were imposed to stop locals from taking out protest rallies against the citizenship law, but failed.

Authorities have also suspended mobile internet in many districts of the state.

Meanwhile, the official countrywide death toll against the controversial new citizenship law in India stands at 22.

Protests against the law erupted on Dec. 11, the day India's upper house of parliament passed the law.

Since then there has been no let-up in the protests. On Monday a massive rally against the citizenship law was held in Chennai by the state's main opposition party. Former federal finance minister P. Chidambaram also joined the protest.

The law aims at granting citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to six religions - Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsi and Christianity - from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, it has kept out Muslim immigrants from applying for citizenship.

Opposition parties and civil society members in India criticize the law as contrary to secular principles enshrined in India's constitution as it excludes Muslims.

On Sunday Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to dispel fears while addressing a rally in Delhi, saying his government does not discriminate on the basis of religion.

He also claimed there had been no discussions on "the word NRC" [National Register of Citizens] during his five-year-old tenure, thereby contradicting Home Minister Amit Shah's repeated promises that the citizenship amendment would be followed by a countrywide NRC update to identify and expel "infiltrators."

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