作者： bharat.cn

In an unprecedented showdown against PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, thousands of university students flooded the streets of India’s capital, while a southern state government led a march and demonstrators held a silent protest in the northeast on Monday.

The protests are aimed at opposing a new law that gives citizenship to non-Muslims who entered India illegally to flee religious persecution in several neighbouring countries.

But vociferous demonstrations that have been rocking the world’s largest democracy ever since Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the contentious bill in the Parliament reached their crescendo, on Sunday, as police entered the premises of a leading university and thrashed its students after numerous cases of violence surfaced in the national capital.

The protests in New Delhi followed a night of violent clashes between police and demonstrators at Jamia Millia Islamia University. People who student organizers claim were not students set at least three buses on fire and police stormed the university library, firing tear gas at students crouched under desks.

At Jamia Millia Islamia University on Monday, thousands stood outside the locked-down campus. Inside, hundreds of students took part in a peaceful sit-in, holding placards denouncing the injuries of dozens of students the night before.

The government maintains that the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which was approved by Parliament last week, will make India a safe haven for Hindus and other religious minorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But critics say the legislation, which for the first time conditions Indian citizenship on religion, violates the secular constitution of the world’s largest democracy.

The law’s passage has triggered protests across India, but Assam, the centre of a decades-old movement against illegal immigrants, has seen the highest toll.

• Law passed on December 11 gives people from persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries easier path to citizenship – unless they are Muslim
• Internet shutdowns are a favoured tactic for Modi’s government. Authorities have interrupted internet services at least 102 times so far this year

Activists of the Youth Forum for Kashmir burn an Indian flag with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFPActivists of the Youth Forum for Kashmir burn an Indian flag with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFP
Activists of the Youth Forum for Kashmir burn an Indian flag with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFP
Indian authorities have stepped up phone and mobile internet shutdowns in some parts of the country in an effort to thwart a groundswell of protests over a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims.
Thousands of people joined rallies on Saturday, with 23 killed so far in the unrest, police said. The death toll jumped after demonstrations turned violent on Friday in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, leaving at least 11 dead including an eight-year-old boy, who was trampled.
On Saturday more protests began in cities including Chennai, capital of southern Tamil Nadu state, and Patna in eastern Bihar state. Crowds were also expected again in the national capital New Delhi.
Disquiet has been growing about the law, which was passed by parliament on December 11 and gives people from persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries an easier path to citizenship – but not if they are Muslim. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist agenda, a claim his political party has denied.
“This piece of legislation strikes at the heart of the Constitution, seeking to make India another country altogether,” prominent historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an Indian newspaper, The Telegraph, after being detained and then released for protesting in the southern city of Bangalore. “It is thus that so many people from so many different walks of life have raised their voices against it.”
Student-led protests that have galvanised a large section of the Indian public have been met with communications blocks in areas of New Delhi, in the eastern state of West Bengal, the northern city of Aligarh and the entire state of Assam in the days since the contentious law was passed in parliament.
In Aligarh, where police beat students and fired tear gas shells inside a university last week, internet services on Saturday were suspended for the sixth straight day. The services were also barred in the capital of northern Uttar Pradesh, where nine people have been killed statewide in protests since Friday.
Internet shutdowns are a favoured tactic for Modi’s government. Authorities have interrupted internet services at least 102 times so far this year, according to a public online tracker maintained by the New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre.
In 2018, the #KeepItOn coalition, which works with the support of 191 organisations globally, and the non-profit group Access Now reported that of the 196 internet shutdowns reported from 25 countries, India was responsible for the majority, with 134 incidents – almost 67 per cent of the world’s documented shutdowns.
Since Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government first came into power in 2014, the internet has been suspended more than 360 times.

India’s economy has the resilience to overcome the current slowdown and return to high growth trajectory, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He reassured investors about their long-term bets on Asia’s third-biggest economy.
“India has witnessed such ups and downs previously as well,” Modi told business leaders in New Delhi. “And each time, we have emerged even stronger. That’s why even now India will forge its path ahead with firmer determination and confidence.”

The country’s economy grew five percent year-on-year between April and June, its weakest pace since 2013, as consumer demand and government spending slowed amid global trade conflicts. This prompted a number of rate cuts by the central bank, with the government introducing several measures (including a sharp cut in corporate taxes) to boost growth.

According to Modi, his government wants to formalize and modernize the country’s economy. A massive amount of money will be spent in the coming years on building infrastructure and rural economy, he said, explaining that will help to achieve the ambitious $5 trillion target by 2024.

Goldman Sachs projected this month that the Indian economy will rebound in 2020 as global conditions are set to improve. It also said that growth will fall to 5.1 percent this year from roughly seven percent annually in 2017 and 2018.