Tens of thousands of people across India have demonstrated against the new citizenship law, which critics say discriminates against Muslims. Around 30,000 people took to the streets in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, more than 20,000 in Siliguri and thousands in Chennai.
Large demonstrations also took place in New Delhi, Guwahati and other cities. The demonstrators chanted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government.
Aijaz Rahi / AP
Protests in New Delhi on Friday
Since the upper house passed the law in December, protests have been going on for weeks. At least 27 people died, and hundreds more were injured in clashes with the police.
The new law simplifies naturalization for members of religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came into the country before 2015 without valid papers. However, Muslims are excluded. Critics accuse Prime Minister Modi's Hindu nationalist party BJP of discriminating against the country's 200 million Muslims.
Critics see the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as a violation of India's secular constitution because it binds rights to religion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist BJP party, on the other hand, argues that the law only helps religiously persecuted people from neighboring countries.
Anti CAA-NRC protest in Kozhikode today cutting across parties and religion..massive turnout @ AdityaMenon22 @_YogendraYadav @RanaAyyub @Shehla_Rashid @SaketGokhale pic.twitter.com/gOUE4q6rP1
- Tanzeem Mohammed (@ Tanzeem13) January 3, 2020Hundreds of human rights activists also joined the protests in the capital, New Delhi. Members of the LGBTQ movement waved rainbow flags. The protests were not just against the law, said lawyer and human rights activist Vrinda Grover. "It's about protecting our democracy, our constitution and our rights," she added.
