India's Citizenship Law Triggers Mass Protests And Violence As Modi Calls For Peace – NPR, Npr.org

Protests against India’s new citizenship law include a “mega rally” in Kolkata, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in white, led a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act Monday.

                         Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP via Getty Images                          

Its backers say the law offers religious minorities an escape from persecution. But critics say it goes against India’s constitution to view people differently based on their religion. They also accuse Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pandering to his Hindu Nationalist base with the law.

Over the past week, at least six people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters, mostly in India’s far northeast, where immigration is a sensitive issue. Many residents there fear new citizens will dilute their local culture and compete with them for jobs.

Protests have since spread to the capital and other cities, including Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. On Monday, Modi called for peace and calm, after violence erupted at Jamia Millia Islamia University.558 people were injured when Delhi police stormed the campus of Jamia Millia University last night. They fired tear gas and beat students with batons. Dormitories were evacuated. Videos posted to social media show bloodied students fleeing into a library and a men’s restroom. The university’s vice chancellor, Najma Akhtar, told reporters she’s filing a police report – against police.

“Damaged property can be recovered, but the emotional toll this has taken on our kids cannot be repaired, “Akhtar said.

            want to unequivocally assure my fellow Indians that CAA does not affect any citizen of India of any religion. No Indian has anything to worry regarding this Act. This Act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India.- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) (December) ********************************************************, ********************************************

   

Modi says the protests against the new law are “unfortunate and deeply distressing.” And on Monday, he sought to dispel concerns bysaying on Twitter

that no one who is currently a citizen of India has anything to worry about, regardless of their religion.

A different message is being heard in West Bengal, the eastern state that borders Bangladesh. There, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeefor ************** a “mega rally” in Kolkata to protest what she says are unconstitutional changes to India’s laws.

Banerjee, who later walked at the front of a huge march in Kolkata’s streets, said via Twitter, “Come, let us all, every section of society, join this people’s movement in a peaceful manner within the ambit of law. “

In Mumbai, students read aloud the Indian constitution’s (preamble) – which defines India as secular democratic republic. In Delhi, protesters hoisted portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, India’s freedom leader. They called the new citizenship law a betrayal of the equal rights and secularism Gandhi stood for.

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