New Citizenship law: How protests played out across country

Two days later, thousands gathered at Seelampur area, where there were reports of stone-pelting and arson.

On December 19, police clamped down on two protests, and CrPC Section 144 was imposed. Several Metro stations were shut across the city, and mobile Internet restrictions put in place. The next day, a protest turned violent near Jama Masjid, with one car being set ablaze and stones thrown. Police used lathicharge and water cannon. Since the protests began, at least 2,000 people have been detained and several arrested for violence.

Assam

Deaths: 5

Almost all important districts of Assam — except the three districts of Bengali-majority Barak Valley — witnessed intense protests since December 10. On December 10, 11 and 12, the protests turned violent at many places, with the epicentres being in Guwahati and Dibrugarh district.

Clashes with security personnel were reported from Guwahati and Dibrugarh.

Tear gas, bullets and water cannons were used — four persons injured in alleged firing in Guwahati on December 12 died, while the driver of a fuel tanker lost his life after a suspected mob set his truck on fire in Sonitpur district on December 13.

Uttar Pradesh

Deaths: 15

Protests — both big and small — were organised in almost all the districts, with Lucknow, Meerut, Sambhal, Kanpur, Firozabad, Bijnor, and Mau the most affected.

One person was killed on December 19, while 14 people were killed across the state over the subsequent days.

Public and private vehicles were burned during various protests, while several policemen were injured. In at least two districts, police stations were attacked. Around 4,000 people have been taken into preventive custody, and at least 300 people have been held, with more arrests in process. Mobile Internet restrictions are in place in several districts.

Karnataka

Deaths: 2

A protest in Mangaluru on December 19 turned violent, with police opening fire, resulting in two deaths.

Mobile Internet services were suspended till Saturday, and curfew was clamped till Sunday midnight. In

Bengaluru, CrPC Section 144 was imposed from Thursday. However, massive protests were held. In Kalaburagi, Hubballi and Mysuru, protesters defied prohibitory orders.

Maharashtra

Several protests were held in Mumbai, and all were peaceful. Similar protests — some big, some small — were held in Thane, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Wardha, Amravati, Yawatmal, Nashik, Malegaon, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Bhusawal, and Dhule and Solapur.

In Aurangabad, anti- and pro-CAA rallies were held on December 18, leading to a tense situation. On December 19, Beed, Parbhani and Hingoli saw violence, with police using tear gas in Hingoli and Beed.

Kerala

Peaceful protests were held in Thiruvananthapuram and other 13 district headquarters by the ruling CPI(M) and opposition Congress. On December 17, when Muslim bodies called for a 12-hour hartal, 360 persons were taken into preventive custody.

Tamil Nadu

The protests were mostly held in Chennai, with smaller rallies in Puducherry, Vellore, Sholing-nallur, Tirunelveli, Thiru-pathur and Coimbatore. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, and though police detained protesters from time to time, all were released later.

Rajasthan

Protests were held in Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur. There were no notable incidents of police action, except in Jodhpur on December 20, there were incidents of stone pelting.

Pro-CAA rallies were also held in Jaipur.

Odisha

Bhubaneswar saw two rallies — one against the CAA on December 17, and one in favour of the law on December 20. In both cases, the rallies were held with police permission, and there no arrests or detentions.

Goa

A protest was held at Panaji’s Azad Maidan on December 18. Speakers included activist Claude Alvares, who spoke on the “idea of Hind. Idea of India” being a “nation of and for everyone”. Another protest on Saturday saw mostly Assam migrants.

Gujarat

Clashes between police and protesters took place in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Chhapi taluka (Banaskantha district). At all these places, police stepped in and arrested protesters. In Vadodara, they opened fire in the air.

Tripura

Protests were held against the new law across the state even before the Bill was passed by Parliament. The largest protests were in West Tripura, Sipahijala district, Dhalai district, and North Tripura. Large contingents of Tripura Police, Tripura State Rifles, Assam Rifles and BSF were deployed in all these locations. Security personnel resorted to lathicharge and firing blanks in North Tripura and and Dhalai districts.

Uttarakhand

Protests in Haldwani town and Dehradun were peaceful. CrPC Section 144 was imposed in Haridwar over intelligence inputs that Bhim Army may stage a demonstration on Sunday.

Chhattisgarh

Protests were held in Bilaspur, Raipur and Ambikapur.

Madhya Pradesh

CrPC Section 144 was imposed in 43 of the 52 districts in the state. Protests were held in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Betul, Shajapur, Khargone, Damoh and Sagar. On December 19, stones were pelted in Khadwa, while four police station areas in Jabalpur were under curfew on December 20 after protests turned violent.

Manipur

The All Manipur Student’s Union imposed a 15-hour total shutdown in the state on December 10 to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Four members of AMSU and eight members of the Manipur University Student’s Union were arrested for enforcing the bandh. On December 14, the Naga Student’s Federation (NSF) imposed 6-hour bandh in Naga-dominated areas to oppose now-passed Act. On December 19, CPI, CPI(M), RSP and AIFB imposed a 12-hour general strike in the state.

Telangana

Protests were mostly peaceful. A few protesters were detained by police and released later.

Himachal Pradesh

Peaceful protests held in Shimla, Dharamshala, Chamba and Karsog.