NEW DELHI — The Indian police cracked down heavily on protesting students Sunday night, blasting tear gas into a library and beating up dozens of young people as violent demonstrations against a contentious citizenship bill spread across the country. The legislation is a core piece of a Hindu-centric agenda pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, and many analysts predicted trouble. India’s large Muslim minority, around 200 million people, has become increasingly desperate and angry, certain that many of Mr. Modi’s recent initiatives are intended to marginalize them. Protests immediately broke out in northeastern India, where several demonstrators were killed, and spread to Bhopal, Jaipur, Ladakh and Kolkata. Cars, buses and railway stations have been set on fire in an explosion of anti-government feeling.

Source: International New York Times December 16, 2019 07:52 UTC