Indians Rise Up Against Modi's Citizenship Bill

After the bill was approved on 4 December 2019, violent protests erupted in Assam, especially in Guwahati, and other areas in the state. Reactionary protests were held as well in several metropolitan cities across India, including Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Mumbai. Reactionary protests were also held at universities across the country including Cotton University, Gauhati University, IIT Bombay, Presidency University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Osmania University, University of Hyderabad, University of Delhi, Panjab University and Aligarh Muslim University. By 16 December, the protests had spread across India with demonstrations occurring in at least 17 cities including Chennai, Jaipur, Bhopal, Lucknow and Puducherry. In Maharashtra the students of Tata Institute of Social Science and the University of Mumbai in Mumbai, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad and the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in Pune staged protests in solidarity with their counterparts at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. Students from various SPPU-affiliated colleges and members of organisations such as the National Students Union of India, the Students Federation of India and the Yuvak Kranti Dal took part in the protest.

On 19 December police banned protests in several parts of India with the imposition of section 144 which prohibits the gathering of more than 4 individuals in a public space as being unlawful, namely, parts of the capital New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka, including Bangalore. Police in Chennai denied permission for marches, rallies or any other demonstration. Internet services were also shutdown in some parts of Delhi. As a result of defying the ban, thousands of protesters were detained, primarily in Delhi, including several opposition leaders and activists such as Ramachandra Guha, Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Umar Khalid, Sandeep Dikshit, and D Raja. Despite of the fear of being detained, tens of thousands of people protested in Hyderabad, Patna, Chandigarh, Mumbai and other cities. Civil society groups, political parties, students, activists and ordinary citizens used social medial platforms to ask people to turn up and protest peacefully. The protests involving 20,000 protesters concluded peacefully at the August Kranti Maidan at Mumbai.

 On 14 December 2019 thousands of agitators packed into Jantar Mantar Road, filling up a space estimated to be half the size of a football ground, as multiple demonstrations occurred against the CAA in Delhi. The next day in Delhi near New Friends Colony, three Delhi Transport Corporation buses were torched. On 16 December, Priyanka Gandhi led a silent protest at the India Gate along with about three hundred congress workers to show solidarity with the students of Jamia Millia Islamia. On 17 December 2019, Delhi's Seelampur area had stone-throwing crowds face off against the police. The police retaliated with tear gas and batons, in which, according to local reports, several protesters and officers were injured. There were also reports of a police station being set on fire. According to police, buses were vandalized in the area. On 19 December 2019, the administrative authorities imposed a ban against public gatherings in parts of Delhi. 20 metro stations were closed to prevent the movement for protests. At least 700 flights were delayed and more than 20 cancelled due to traffic jams caused by police closing the roads to stifle protests. Protest meetings were held defying the ban in Red Fort and Mandi House. Access to mobile internet was restricted in certain places in Delhi. Digital rights activists, who accessed and studied the order suspending internet in several areas in Delhi on 19 December, stated that it was not issued from the "right channels" and, therefore, was "illegal". Politicians Yogendra Yadav, Sitaram Yechury, Nilotpal Basu, Brinda Karat, Ajay Maken, Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat, Sandeep Dikshit, Umar Khalid and D. Raja along with around 1,200 protesters were detained by the police.

Source : Wikipedia