[The
scholar, Ramachandra Guha, was among hundreds detained on Thursday, as
opposition to the new citizenship law continued to roil Indian cities. Many of
those detained were later released.]
By
Jeffrey Gettleman
 |
|
Protesters denouncing a
new citizenship law near the historic Red Fort in New Delhi
on Thursday. Credit Altaf
Qadri/Associated Press
|
NEW
DELHI — Rowdy protests
against a contentious new citizenship law swept India on Thursday, and the
authorities responded by shutting down the internet, barricading roads and
arresting hundreds of protesters, revealing an Indian government increasingly on
edge.
In Bangalore, Ramachandra Guha, a pre-eminent
biographer of Mohandas K. Gandhi and a critic of the citizenship law, was
midsentence in speaking to a reporter when helmeted police officers carrying
sticks grabbed his arms and dragged him away. It was all captured on video.“Our
protest is totally nonviolent,’’ Mr. Guha said, seconds before he was detained.
“See what is happening. You see we are totally peaceful. Did you see any
violence?’’
Mr. Guha was then put into a bus full of
other detainees. He was released later in the day.
Indian media reported that three people were
killed during protests, two in Mangalore and one in Lucknow.
In New Delhi, the capital, demonstrators
flocked to the historic Red Fort, chanting, “We want freedom!” and “The person
who will walk the path of Hitler will die the death of Hitler!”
Anger, energy and opposition to the
government are growing by the day. More and more Indians are pouring onto the
streets of major cities, from Kolkata in the east to Kochi in the south, to
express outrage at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for pushing
through a law that favors granting citizenship to South Asians of faiths other
than Islam.
The government has responded to this week’s
protests with riot officers and internet shutdowns. India tops the world — by
far — in the number of digital lockdowns it has imposed, outpacing
authoritarian governments such as Syria and Turkey.
Police officials in Delhi said that they had
detained hundreds of people and converted a sports stadium into a temporary
jail, though Indian media said many of the at least 300 people arrested were
later released.
India’s Muslims, a minority in this vast
country but, at 200 million, one of the largest Muslim populations in the
world, have weathered an increasingly nasty campaign of abuse and
discrimination on Mr. Modi’s watch.
Though Mr. Modi has denied any anti-Muslim
bias, his political party is deeply rooted in a worldview that celebrates India
as a homeland for Hindus, who make up about 80 percent of the population.
Many members of his Bharatiya Janata Party,
including high-ranking officials, have uttered discriminatory comments about
Muslims and even celebrated thugs who have beaten up or killed them. Mob
lynchings of Muslims have increased in recent years as Mr. Modi’s party has
dominated politics.
This week, the resentment in the Muslim
community finally erupted. Tens of thousands of Muslims and Indians of other
faiths have demonstrated against the new Citizenship Amendment Act, a core
piece of Mr. Modi’s agenda.
The act creates a special path for
citizenship for migrants from some of India’s neighboring countries if they are
Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, Parsee or Jain — in short, followers of any
major religion in South Asia, bar one: Islam.
Many Muslims and progressive Indians call the
law a dangerous step toward marginalizing an already fearful community and a
blatant violation of India’s long commitment to secularism and equality, which
is enshrined in its Constitution.
And many fear it may be just the beginning.
Amit Shah, the home minister and Mr. Modi’s
right-hand man, has vowed to expand a contentious citizenship review process
that has already left nearly two million people, from one state in northeastern
India, potentially without a country.
Mr. Shah and other party officials have said
the policy is not intended to discriminate against Indian Muslims. Rather, they
say, it is needed to expel illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, India’s poorer,
predominantly Muslim neighbor.
Many people believe that if the citizenship
review goes nationwide, as Mr. Shah has repeatedly promised, it could strip
many Indians of citizenship if they cannot produce the required documents, such
as old birth certificates or real estate deeds.
Mr. Modi’s opponents say that the combination
of the Citizenship Amendment Act, referred to as the C.A.A., and the
citizenship review process — called the National Register of Citizens, or
N.R.C. — could take away Muslims’ rights while allowing Hindus and followers of
other faiths to stay in the country, with all legal protections.
In the past 10 days, several people have been
killed or badly injured in protests against the government. Dozens of
university students in New Delhi were beaten by police wielding wooden poles.
Hundreds of people have been detained, including Yogendra Yadav, a well-known
political commentator, Umar Khalid, a social activist, and several opposition
politicians.
The authorities in New Delhi shut down the
internet in several areas on Thursday, something that longtime residents of the
capital said they could not remember happening before. Local officials shut
down service to more than a dozen subway stations, and several school closures
were announced for Friday.
On Thursday, Indian officials issued a
statement that tried to defang the rising criticism of the citizenship
measures. “No Indian citizen of any religion needs to worry at all either about
C.A.A. or N.R.C.,’’ it said.
But the statement also made a national
citizenship review sound like a fait accompli. “When N.R.C. comes, will I have
to provide details of birth of parents etc. to prove my Indian citizenship?’’
read the statement, which was in question-and-answer format.
“Details of your birth like date/month and
year and place of birth are enough,” the answer read. “If not available, you
may have to provide such details of birth of parents.’’
Hari Kumar, Sameer Yasir and Suhasini Raj
contributed reporting.