ISLAMABAD – The death toll from violent protests in northeast India againstan Anti-Muslim citizenship law has risen to six, as authorities maintaininternet bans and curfews to quell the unrest.
Tension remains high at the epicenter of the unrest in Assam state’sbiggest city, Guwahati where troops are patrolling the streets in vehiclesamid tight security.
Some five thousand people took part in a fresh demonstration in Guwahati onSunday, with hundreds of police watching on.
In West Bengal, internet services remained suspended in several districtswhere protests stretched into a third day. The demonstrators set fire totyres, staged sit-ins on highways and railway tracks, and torched trainsand buses.
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The legislation, passed by the Indian parliament on Wednesday, allows grantof citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants except Muslims, whoentered India from the neighbouring countries on or before December 31,2014.
The new law is considered by Islamic groups, the opposition, rightsactivists and others, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sHindu-nationalist agenda to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims.
