At least six dead as protests against Indian citizenship law turn violent

Indian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who were torching vehicles in Delhi on Sunday as protests against a new citizenship law continued for a fifth straight day across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government says the new law will save religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians from persecution in neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan by offering them a path to Indian citizenship. But critics say the law, which does not make the same provision for Muslims, weakens India's secular foundations.

The law's enactment on December 11 has stirred up protests across India, but the eastern part of the country, where resentment towards Bangladeshi immigrants has persisted for decades, has been among the worst hit. There have been demonstrations in the Indian capital since Friday.

On Sunday protesters in South Delhi, including locals and students from Jamia Milia University, torched some buses, cars and two-wheelers, AFP reported. 

A Reuters witness said police resorted to baton charges and firing tear gas on the protesters to disperse them.

Some injured protesters were taken to a nearby hospital, according to the Reuters witness, but police have not given injury toll figures.

University descends into chaos

At Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi, where slogans such as “#SecularIndia” were graffitied on buildings, many students told The Associated Press that the police fired tear gas inside the university’s library and beat up protesters before sealing all campus gates.

“We were treated like criminals. Scores were injured and I escaped from the campus to save my life,” said student Tufail Ahmad.

Outside campus, the area around Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, a predominantly Muslim area, was deserted with shops and houses latched tight after the violent protests.

A trail of stones that video footage showed protesters pelted earlier in the day at police lay with debris of broken glass and splatters of blood.

Local media also reported that police were dragging students out a mosque inside the campus. 

Videos shared with the AP from students streaming past a police perimeter surrounding the campus showed scenes of chaos in the university library with police firing tear gas and students huddled under tables and locked inside bathrooms.

“Police have entered the campus by force, no permission was given.

Our staff and students are being beaten up and forced to leave the campus,” said Waseem Ahmed Khan, a top official of Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Many of the injured students were taken to nearby hospitals, including Holy Family, where about 26 students were treated, according to Father George, the hospital's spokesman.

“The police beat me mercilessly after pinning me down to the ground. My other friends weren’t spared either," said Mujeeb Raza, a student who was being treated at the nearby Al-Shifa hospital.

Sunil Choudhary, deputy chief fire officer said four buses had been torched in South Delhi area and two firefighters injured.

Delhi fire service department has sent four fire engines to the location, Choudhary said. "Roads are blocked we are unable to take the injured to the hospital," he told Reuters.

At close to 7 pm local time, Delhi police said the situation was under control.

Meanwhile, protests against the Act continued in parts of eastern India.

Internet services suspended in several districts

In West Bengal state, where protests stretched into a third day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee – who has spoken out against the national government's push for the law – suspended internet services in several districts.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called again for calm, saying local cultures in northeastern states were not under threat, amid fears the new law will grant citizenship to large numbers of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

"Culture, language, social identity and political rights of our brothers and sisters from northeast will remain intact," Shah told a rally in eastern Jharkhand state, News18 television network reported him as saying.

For Islamic groups, the opposition, rights activists and others in India, the new law is seen as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims. He denies the allegation.

Rights groups and a Muslim political party are challenging the law in the Supreme Court, arguing that it is against the constitution and India's secular traditions.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally in Assam, which had supported the bill in parliament, told local media Sunday that it now intended to challenge the law in the Supreme Court.