About 25 Indians Wounded in Clashes With Police Over Citizenship Amendment Bill - Reports
About 25 people, including several students, were injured in India's northeastern Assam state as a result of clashes with police over amendments to India's Citizenship Bill, excluding Muslim irregular migrants from achieving citizenship in the country, media reported on Wednesday
On Monday, Lok Sabha passed in a 311-80 vote a controversial bill allowing to grant citizenship to religious minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis, facing persecution in neighboring states. The opponents see the bill as discriminatory, in what critics say is a fresh attempt to sideline the nearly 200-million-strong Muslim minority.
The severest clashes took place in Assam's Dibrugarh district, India Today magazine reported.
Several thousand people came to the streets and blocked roads to protest the controversial bill. While law enforcers� were trying to clear roads, protesters were throwing stones at them, forcing the latter to use tear gas and rubber bullets.�
The decision to exclude Muslim irregular migrants from achieving citizenship has drawn strong condemnation worldwide. For example, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom slammed in a press release the Indian lower house for passing the amendment. The commission stated that the new law is a "dangerous turn in the wrong direction."
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned the bill, saying that it violated international human rights and India's agreements with Pakistani.