Citizenship law protests spread across India campuses |
Protests over a new Indian citizenship law based on religion spread to student campuses as critics said the Hindu nationalist government was pushing a partisan agenda in conflict with the country`s founding as a secular republic. Anger with Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s government was stoked by allegations of police brutality at Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi on Sunday, when officers entered the campus and fired tear gas to break up a protest. At least 100 people were wounded. Under the law passed by parliament last week, religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians in neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who settled in India before 2015 will have a path to citizenship on grounds they faced persecution in those countries. PM Modi called for calm, saying the protests were deeply distressing. In a tweet, he said that “Debate, discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy but, never has damage to public property and disturbance of normal life has been a part of our ethos.” Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, said the Modi government was dividing Indian society through the citizenship law and a plan to launch a national citizenship register.
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