AFP, New Delhi :
Thousands of people joined fresh rallies against a contentious citizenship law in India on Saturday, with 24 killed so far in nearly two weeks of widespread unrest.
The death toll jumped one day after demonstrations turned violent on Friday in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, where at least 15 people were killed including an eight-year-old boy who was trampled to death.
One protester died Saturday after clashes in Rampur, also in Uttar Pradesh, as police armed with batons used tear gas against a stone-pelting crowd, police told AFP.
Anger has been growing over the law, approved by parliament on 11 December, which gives religious minority members from three neighbouring countries an easier path to citizenship-but not if they are Muslim.
Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and is part of prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist agenda, a claim his political party denies.
Authorities have imposed emergency laws, blocked internet access, and shut down shops in sensitive areas across the country in an attempt to contain the unrest.
More than 7,000 people have either been detained under emergency laws or arrested for rioting, according to
several state police officials.
Uttar Pradesh police said they have arrested 705 people involved in the protests.
The arrests however have done nothing to stop the spread of demonstrations across the country.
Protests were held Saturday in numerous states, including in the cities of Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Guwahati.
As day broke in the capital New Delhi, demonstrators held up their mobile phones as torches outside India’s biggest mosque Jama Masjid in a show of dissent.
In Patna, in the eastern state of Bihar, three demonstrators suffered gunshot wounds and six others were wounded in a stone-throwing clash with counter-protesters, police said.
Thousands of people joined fresh rallies against a contentious citizenship law in India on Saturday, with 24 killed so far in nearly two weeks of widespread unrest.
The death toll jumped one day after demonstrations turned violent on Friday in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, where at least 15 people were killed including an eight-year-old boy who was trampled to death.
One protester died Saturday after clashes in Rampur, also in Uttar Pradesh, as police armed with batons used tear gas against a stone-pelting crowd, police told AFP.
Anger has been growing over the law, approved by parliament on 11 December, which gives religious minority members from three neighbouring countries an easier path to citizenship-but not if they are Muslim.
Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and is part of prime minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist agenda, a claim his political party denies.
Authorities have imposed emergency laws, blocked internet access, and shut down shops in sensitive areas across the country in an attempt to contain the unrest.
More than 7,000 people have either been detained under emergency laws or arrested for rioting, according to
several state police officials.
Uttar Pradesh police said they have arrested 705 people involved in the protests.
The arrests however have done nothing to stop the spread of demonstrations across the country.
Protests were held Saturday in numerous states, including in the cities of Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Guwahati.
As day broke in the capital New Delhi, demonstrators held up their mobile phones as torches outside India’s biggest mosque Jama Masjid in a show of dissent.
In Patna, in the eastern state of Bihar, three demonstrators suffered gunshot wounds and six others were wounded in a stone-throwing clash with counter-protesters, police said.
