�Hundreds of thousands of Indians have taken to the streets since the government passed the new Citizenship Act. They marched through the major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata among them demanding that the law that they said discriminates Muslims be withdrawn immediately.
The CAA grants citizenship to refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on the grounds of religion but denies Muslims. It is criticized for ignoring India’s secular constitution and for discriminating against Muslim people. Well, some people believe it safeguards oppressed groups of people.
In Delhi, protesters conflicted with the police near Jamia Millia Islamia University where Tear gas and water cannons were deployed. Some of the students were said to have been injured. What is newly available is information that the university has shifted some exams, which were supposed to be held next week.
August Kranti Maidan of Mumbai was one of the places where more amount of crowd was collected that comprised about one lakh of people. Many people had Indian flags with them and there were others holding placards going around with anti CAA and the proposed pan India NRC messages.
The government has justified the law and made it clear it has no impact on any Indian citizens and is intended to offer refuge to Christians who are being persecuted. Nonetheless, since its enactment, the opposition political parties and civil society organizations have demanded for its expulsion saying it violates the provisions of the constitution on section both on equality and secularism.
With the protest demonstrations going on and on, several state governments such as the West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab have vowed not to enforce the CAA. Next week, the Supreme Court would be moved to hear petitions on the constitutional ingredients of the act.
To top it all the protests do not seem to be ending anytime soon and thus the coming days are likely to experience more protests as well as possible clashes between protesters and the police force all over the country.
