NEW DELHI, December 22: Indian authorities stepped up security and shut down the internet in various places on Tuesday while members of the ruling party planned marches backing a new citizenship law even though nationwide protests against it are escalating.
An interior ministry official said the government expected all state security officials to be on duty on Christmas Eve and through the holiday week.
“We want the police to prevent an outbreak of violence but we also realise that the situation can get out of control, hence paramilitary forces will be deployed in markets and public spaces,” said a senior security official in New Delhi.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) aims to fast-track citizenship for persecuted Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Police also stopped opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi of the Congress party from visiting Meerut city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), where they meant to visit the families of the people who had died in the riots, Indian media reported today. According to NDTV, six people have died in Meerut in the protests.
According to NDTV, the Gandhis were told that there was a ban on large gatherings due to the security situation, after which the politicians left.
“We asked the police if they have any order, they didn’t show us any order but they just said you can please go back,” Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying.-Agencies
