Citizenship Act protests continue, Bihar bandh on, several arrested across India

Rashtriya Janata Dal supporters burn tyre as they block a road during a demonstration against NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), in Patna, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019. Photo: PTI

Ten days after the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in the Rajya Sabha, protests across the country show no signs of easing. The death toll in Uttar Pradesh has climbed to 11 after police allegedly fired at protesters here.

The internet services have been suspended in 21 districts of UP following the violent protests . All educational institutions in the state will remain closed.

In Madhya Pradesh, prohibitory orders have been imposed in 50 districts. Section 144 of CrPC, which restricts four or more people from gathering at a place has become a status quo in many others states as well including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi.

The newly amended law seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

Here's a compilation of the days events:

Uttar Pradesh

At least 11 people, including an 8-year-old boy, have lost their lives in Uttar Pradesh as the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent in the state, officials said on Saturday.

After Friday prayers, protesters clashed with police at several places in the state and hurled stones and torched vehicles, they said.

While Lucknow and Aligarh were peaceful after the prayers, clashes were reported from nearly 20 districts, including Firozabad, Bhadohi, Bahraich, Farrukhabad, Gorakhpur and Sambhal.

Bihar

Thousands of RJD supporters fanned out across Bihar on Saturday, disrupting rail and road traffic while trying to enforce a statewide shutdown in protest against the new citizenship law and the proposed NRC.

In Nawada, bandh supporters staged a demonstration on national highway 31 where they burnt tires on the road causing disruption in the movement of vehicles while agitators protested at Zero Mile Chowk in Muzaffarpur.

Delhi

In Delhi, police released the nine minors taken into custody on Friday along with 33 others for holding protests. Meanwhile, the elusive Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad was taken into custody in the wee hours of Saturday.

Police said 15 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in Daryaganj during a protest against the new citizenship law. Initially 10 people were held but five more were arrested later.

Those arrested have been charged with rioting and using force to deter policemen from doing duty, police said.

According to police, the protesters had set on fire a private car parked at Subhash Marg area on Friday evening. The fire was immediately doused.

Karnataka

Binoy Viswam, CPI's Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, has been detained by the Karnataka police for taking part in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Mangaluru. He took part in a demonstration before the Gandhi statue in front of the City Corporation office, violating prohibitory orders, on Saturday.

The police have also taken CPI's Karnataka state secretary and 10 party workers into custody.

They have been moved to the Barke police station.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka police continued to impose restrictions along the state border to prevent the entry of vehicles from Kerala.

Kerala

The Congress stepped up its campaign against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Kerala on Saturday by organising protests at all district headquarters on Saturday.

Senior Congress leaders including Ramesh Chennithala, K C Venugopal, Mullappally Ramachandran and Shashi Tharoor participated in the campaign, capturing the mood of the people in the state against the law enacted by Parliament during its winter session.

Meghalaya

The ban on mobile internet and mass messaging services, imposed on December 12 in the northeastern state, was lifted at 7pm on Friday due to improvement in law and order situation, a senior home department official told PTI.

The curfew imposed in Sadar and Lumdiengjri police station limits in Shillong was relaxed for 16 hours from 5am on Saturday and no untoward incident was reported in these areas in the past 24 hours, East Khasi Hills District Magistrate M W Nongbri said.

Assam

In Assam, protesters took out peaceful rallies against the amended Citizenship Act in various on Saturday police said.

The curfew imposed in Dibrugarh following violent protests against the Act was relaxed for 16 hours since 6 am on Saturday as the law and order situation improved, they said.

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