Security measures in the Indian capital of New Delhi have been strengthened in response to nationwide protests against amendments to a citizenship law introduced last week, which are seen as discrimination against the country's Muslim minority, media reported on Wednesday
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2019) Security measures in the Indian capital of New Delhi have been strengthened in response to nationwide protests against amendments to a citizenship law introduced last week, which are seen as discrimination against the country's Muslim minority, media reported on Wednesday.
According to the Indian NDTV broadcaster, the decision to heighten the security measures came after a crowd of 2,000 protesters clashed with the police a day earlier in Delhi's northeastern district of Seelampur. The demonstrators tried to break into the city center, but the police officers were able to stop them.
In response, the protesters threw stones, bricks and sticks at the security forces, who then used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. During the clashes, several police buses and motorbikes were crushed, and dozens of protesters were detained.
The police are currently carrying out random security checks on the streets of the capital city, and many educational institutions have been temporarily closed. The mobile internet connection has also been significantly limited.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Supreme Court declined to suspend amendments to the citizenship act, which is feared to trigger a new wave of protests.
As the verdict required, a three-judge bench requested the Federal government to respond to more than 60 petitions from various individuals and organizations, disputing the legitimacy of the amendments to the law.
"We will have to see whether the Act has to stay," the verdict read, as quoted by the media outlet.
The next hearing is scheduled for January 22.
Last week, the Indian parliament passed the bill, which allowed citizenship for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis facing persecution in neighboring countries. Muslims were excluded from the right to citizenship under the bill, with the exception seen as a fresh discriminatory attempt to sideline the nearly 200-million-strong Muslim community.
Indian Muslims believe that the new law violates the constitution, as it oppresses a group of citizens in a formally secular country on religious grounds. The residents of the country's north-eastern states were also angered, fearing that now millions of people from Bangladesh could legally settle in their regions, which could threaten the interests of the local population.
