Citizenship Amendment Act: The students versus the regime

Thousands of students across India have taken to the streets in recent days in an uprising against a controversial law that offers citizenship to non-Muslims from three neighbouring countries.

They are protesting because they feel the Citizenship Amendment Act is discriminatory and part of a Hindu-nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200-million Muslim minority. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the new law was "for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no place to go except India".

The demonstrations were triggered by the perceived police brutality at two leading universities in Delhi and the northern city of Aligarh. Police entered campuses and allegedly attacked students inside the library, reading halls and toilets. Distressing videos of the violence have gone viral and fuelled anger across the country.

Students and teachers have minced no words. In a strongly worded statement, Ashoka University, one of India's largest private campuses, has described it as "state-sponsored violence". Rights group Amnesty India reminded the government that "students have a right to protest". In a video, a distraught law student asked: "Are we even living in a democracy":[]}