Indian citizenship law discriminatory to Muslims passed

Indian police have fired blanks on protesters as thousands ignored a curfew in the north-east of the country in fresh demonstrations against contentious new citizenship legislation. Officials say about 20 to 30 people have been hurt in the protests in recent days, with vehicles torched and police firing teargas and charging the crowds with heavy wooden sticks. Up to 5,000 paramilitary forces were deployed in the city of Guwahati in Assam state, while many roads were blocked to prevent the spread of protests.

The citizenship amendment bill, passed by the upper house yesterday, allows for the fast-tracking of citizenship applications from religious minorities from three neighbouring countries, but not from Muslims. Tasneem Adams spoke to Prof Faizan Mustafa, a constitutional law expert based in Hyderabad