Faizel Patel – 12/12/2019
The army has been called in to North Eastern India in an attempt to calm tensions amid mounting pressure over calls to scrap a new citizen bill.
Officials say at least 20 people have been injured during demonstrations, while air and railway services have been severely impacted.
India’s Parliament approved the controversial citizenship on Wednesday which grants citizenship to minorities facing persecution from three neighbouring countries – but excludes Muslims.
The bill brings sweeping changes to India’s 64-year-old citizenship law by giving citizenship to “persecuted” minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians – from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Critics say the legislation put forward by the Hindu nationalist ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) undermines the country’s secular constitution, with opposition parties, minority groups, academics and a US federal panel calling it discriminatory against Muslims.
The Indian government says the new law will be followed by a citizenship register that means Muslims must prove they are original residents of India and not refugees from these three countries, potentially rendering some of them stateless.
The Indian Express says the law, which requires presidential assent, unfairly targets India’s 170 million Muslims.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since appealed for calm.
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