Hundreds take to streets in Delhi as chorus against citizenship bill grows louder

Protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the national capital intensified on Thursday with hundreds of Delhi University students burning copies of the "unconstitutional" legislation and people raising anti-government slogans at India Gate.

Many protesters at India Gate live streamed the protest on social media sites and asked the President to not sign the bill into a law.

Completing the legislative process for granting Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the contentious bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Lok Sabha had cleared it on Monday.

The bill will now go to President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent.

Around 300 students of the Delhi University (DU) burnt copies of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) which they dubbed as "unconstitutional", "illegal" and "communal".

The protest at the varsity's Art Faculty was called by various students' bodies, including the Left-backed All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India, and autonomous women students' collective Pinjra Tod, under the banner of Collective-DU.

Other organisations and students from Assam also took part in the demonstration.

The students also took out a march in the university campus.

"The CAB has been brought by the RSS-BJP to further the Sangh Parivar's agenda of a 'Hindu Rashtra'," DU AISA secretary Madhurima Kunda said.

"(Union Home Minister) Amit Shah is no one to tell us whether we are the citizens of this country. The country will not accept citizenship on religious grounds. We also condemn the state's repression of protests in Assam," she said.

The protest was joined by Sandipan Talukdar, a journalist from Assam; Sajjad Hussain, also a journalist; former Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) president Nandita Narain; and DU professor N Sukumar.

They expressed concern over the situation in Assam and said the CAB could lead to another partition of the country.

In the evening, a motley group of people held a protest against the "divisive" legislation at India Gate.

The protesters carried placards and raised anti-BJP and anti-government slogans. They asked the President not to sign the bill "which divides the society on the basis of religion".

Sounds of claps and tambourine filled the air. Many protesters live streamed the protest on Twitter and Facebook, while others lit up the venue by turning on the flashlights of their mobile phones.

The police appealed to the protesters to disperse but to no avail.

"Now, the decision will be made on the streets. This bill will perish before it is born. The people of India have time and again rejected such bills. The government wants to bring it through a C-section surgery, but it will perish in the process," a protester, Kapil Sharma (45), said.

"The President is the representative of the people of India. If the people reject it, how can the President sign it," he said.

A student, Khalid (25), said, "The President should strike down the bill before the Supreme Court does."