At least 139 people, most of whom are students, were detained over the past day by police in central New Delhi for trying to rally against new amendments to the Citizenship Law, Times of India writes.
According to these data, most of the detainees are women. All of them were released by the evening of the same day.
Police indicate that the detention was a necessary measure, as a ban on mass gatherings and demonstrations was introduced in the city. Violation of this prohibition entails criminal liability and heavy fines.
In addition to the capital, demonstrations against the new citizenship law continue in other cities in India. Over the past two days, Indian students studying in foreign universities and representatives of Indian communities abroad have held large-scale protests in cities such as Washington, New York, London, Tokyo, Melbourne, Amsterdam and others.
The scandalous amendments to the citizenship law having officially entered into force and providing that non-Muslims from neighboring countries of South Asia – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh – can obtain an Indian passport under a simplified procedure if they encounter harassment in their homeland.
The law provoked discontent of Indian Muslims, who believe that the amendments violate the constitution, as they oppress some of the citizens in a formally secular country on religious grounds. Resentment was also expressed by residents of the north-eastern states of the country, who are afraid that now millions of people from Bangladesh can legally settle in their regions. This, according to the organizers of the protests, threatens the interests of the local population. Protests on this basis have been going on in India for almost two weeks now.