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{"source_url": "https://www.malaysiakini.com", "url": "https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/505527", "title": "India celebrates New Year's Eve with protests against citizenship law", "top_image": "https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2020/01/96c2d80ad9638ca28b73ddafc8da8f7f.jpg", "meta_img": "https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2020/01/96c2d80ad9638ca28b73ddafc8da8f7f.jpg", "images": ["https://static01.malaysiakini.com/img/mk-logo/mk-logo-en.svg", "https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2020/01/96c2d80ad9638ca28b73ddafc8da8f7f.jpg", "https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2020/01/96c2d80ad9638ca28b73ddafc8da8f7f.jpg=s660", "https://static01.malaysiakini.com/img/mk-app-icon.svg"], "movies": [], "text": "Thousands of Indians ushered in the New Year by demonstrating against a citizenship law despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s attempts to dampen protests that have run for nearly three weeks.\n\nThe protests have rocked India since Dec 12, when the government passed legislation easing the way for non-Muslim minorities from neighbouring Muslim-majority nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to gain Indian citizenship.\n\nCombined with opposition to a proposed national register of citizens, many Indians fear the law will discriminate against minority Muslims and chip away at India\u2019s secular constitution.\n\nThe Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Citizens\u2019 Register (NRC), which were part of the election manifesto of Modi\u2019s ruling Hindu nationalist party.\n\nProtesters had planned at least three demonstrations in New Delhi, the capital, including the area of Shaheen Bagh, where hundreds of residents have blocked a major highway for 18 days.\n\nIrshad Alam, a 25-year-old resident of Shaheen Bagh, stood with his one-year-old in his arm and his wife by his side. He said he\u2019d been participating in the protest every day.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s freezing here,\u201d he said, \u201cBut we are still here because we care about this movement.\u201d\n\nMore than 200 people gathered in and around a makeshift stage in the Muslim neighbourhood chanting slogans and reciting poetry.\n\nResident Maqsood Alam said protesters were not afraid of a police crackdown.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been expecting that every day. But I\u2019ll tell you one thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThis crowd here is not afraid of the government. They are ready to give their lives for this movement. We won\u2019t leave here until the government takes back the law.\u201d\n\nPoetry recitals and speeches had been planned by organisers at a protest outside New Delhi\u2019s Jamia Millia University, which was stormed by police this month.\n\n\u201cNew Year\u2019s resolution to defend the constitution,\u201d read the schedule for another protest planned in New Delhi, now in the grip of its second coldest winter in more than a century.\n\nPolice said they had deployed additional forces in New Delhi on New Year\u2019s Eve, with traffic curbs imposed in some parts of the capital.\n\n\u201cAll precautionary measures are in place,\u201d said police official Chinmoy Biswal, who oversees the southeastern part of the city that includes Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia University.\n\n\u201cRecently, there have been no incidents. So we hope things will remain fine,\u201d he told Reuters.\n\nIn the southern city of Hyderabad, at least two small groups of demonstrators have been organizing flash protests, to skirt police restrictions on larger gatherings.\n\nTypically, half a dozen demonstrators pop up in public places, such as malls and coffee shops, holding up placards and encouraging passersby to join in, a member of one of the groups, which has held 11 protests, told Reuters.\n\nStreet-side poetry recitals, stand-up comedy, and music performances are also planned in the financial capital of Mumbai and the eastern city of Kolkata.\n\nBut some protests have turned violent, particularly in the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and at least 25 people have been killed in clashes with police since early December.\n\nInitially caught off guard by the scale of the protests, Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has scrambled to douse public anger, with Modi declaring that there had been no discussions on the NRC, contradicting party colleagues.\n\nThe BJP is running a campaign to say that the CAA is not discriminatory and is needed to help non-Muslim minorities persecuted in the three neighbouring countries.\n\n- Reuters", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": ["Yoursay", "citizenship", "india", "Parliament", "citizenship amendment act", "human rights", "Special Report", "Editor's Pick", "Roundup", "world", "discrimination", "KiniGuide", "Msians Kini"], "authors": [], "publish_date": "Wed Jan 1 09:46:47 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://static01.malaysiakini.com/desktop/img/apple-touch-icon.png", "meta_data": {"article": {"content_tier": "free", "author": "Reuters", "tag": "discrimination", "section": "news", "publisher": "https://www.facebook.com/MalaysiaKini/", "published_time": "2020-01-01 09:46:47+08:00", "modified_time": "2020-01-01 09:46:47+08:00"}, "mk": {"pagetype": "content", "category": "news", "sid": 505527, "free": "true", "comment_status": 1, "language": "en"}, "og": {"type": "article", "url": "https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/505527", "title": "India celebrates New Year's Eve with protests against citizenship law", "description": "Protests have continued to rock India since the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act which is alleged to discriminate against minority Muslims.", "site_name": "Malaysiakini", "image": {"identifier": "https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2020/01/96c2d80ad9638ca28b73ddafc8da8f7f.jpg", "secure_url": "https://i.ncdn.xyz/publisher-c1a3f893382d2b2f8a9aa22a654d9c97/2020/01/96c2d80ad9638ca28b73ddafc8da8f7f.jpg"}, "locale": "en_GB"}, "viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0", "norton-safeweb-site-verification": "hgo0wjjdnrxr01r7iogxp0bwpyb3h3kqmd1ym43z3d79k-z-jlczcox-5a770ti3lhrwc7c4yqaqyl8g6xvkhpa874u0e2wvkh-34kgw99bsqkda-nj01bojtm4xh7fx", "fb": {"app_id": 217374841612391}}, "canonical_link": "https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/505527"} |
