The protests against the Modi government's Citizenship Amendment Act are building. And on Thursday, the protesters managed to force the government's hand. Hundreds of them including historians, thinkers and students were detained across the country for defying Section 144. Three protesters were killed.
Protesters were out in Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Patna and many other cities.
As these protests gain steam, we map the focal points where dissent against the Citizenship Act that promises citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who moved to India by 2014 has been pronounced. The Citizenship Amendment Act, critics say, challenges the very foundation of India's Constitution by making religion a criterion for citizenship. The Northeast, meanwhile, is up in arms because they fear that they will have to pay the biggest price.