Deadly protests erupted across India Sunday over a controversial citizenship bill that critics fear could further marginalize the country's minority Muslim community.Protests broke out at universities across the country, including in Hyderabad, Varanasi, and the capital New Delhi, according to Indian media, while videos showed police firing tear gas at protesters at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh. Ongoing protests in Assam, in India's northeast, turned violent, with at least five people killed, police said.In Delhi, students began demonstrating at the prestigious Jamia Milia Islamia university early Sunday, with around 2,000 people taking part at the protest's peak. Hundreds of people were injured in the protests, and dozens arrested, as well as significant damage to the campus, said Najma Akhtar, the university's vice chancellor.Police said the protest turned violent when some students refused to disperse, and set fire to public buses. Police then used tear gas, said senior Delhi police official Chinmoy Biswal. Several students were detained at two police stations, but have since been released.Anger has been growing nationally over the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which was signed into law last week. The bill promises to fast-track citizenship for religious minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived before 2015.But the exclusion of Muslims -- which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says is because they are not minorities in India's neighboring countries -- has raised concerns about the bill's constitutionality and the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric in India.Many in Assam and Tripura, states in India's northeast, also fear that it could see large numbers of Hindus migrating to the region, outnumbering the region's 200 distinct indigenous groups and changing its religious and ethnic makeup.There are around 16 million Hindus in Bangladesh alone, and naturalizing large numbers of immigrants could also greatly impact employment, government subsidies and education.The protest at Jamia Milia Islamia was not organized by the university or its students, according to its vice chancellor Najma Akhtar. "From the areas around the university, a call had gone out for an organized protest," she said.
Deadly protests erupted across India Sunday over a controversial citizenship bill that critics fear could further marginalize the country's minority Muslim community.
Protests broke out at universities across the country, including in Hyderabad, Varanasi, and the capital New Delhi, according to Indian media, while videos showed police firing tear gas at protesters at Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh. Ongoing protests in Assam, in India's northeast, turned violent, with at least five people killed, police said.
In Delhi, students began demonstrating at the prestigious Jamia Milia Islamia university early Sunday, with around 2,000 people taking part at the protest's peak. Hundreds of people were injured in the protests, and dozens arrested, as well as significant damage to the campus, said Najma Akhtar, the university's vice chancellor.
Police said the protest turned violent when some students refused to disperse, and set fire to public buses. Police then used tear gas, said senior Delhi police official Chinmoy Biswal. Several students were detained at two police stations, but have since been released.
Anger has been growing nationally over the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which was signed into law last week. The bill promises to fast-track citizenship for religious minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived before 2015.
But the exclusion of Muslims -- which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says is because they are not minorities in India's neighboring countries -- has raised concerns about the bill's constitutionality and the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric in India.
Many in Assam and Tripura, states in India's northeast, also fear that it could see large numbers of Hindus migrating to the region, outnumbering the region's 200 distinct indigenous groups and changing its religious and ethnic makeup.
There are around 16 million Hindus in Bangladesh alone, and naturalizing large numbers of immigrants could also greatly impact employment, government subsidies and education.
The protest at Jamia Milia Islamia was not organized by the university or its students, according to its vice chancellor Najma Akhtar. "From the areas around the university, a call had gone out for an organized protest," she said.