India Ramps Up Security, Shuts Down Internet as More Protest Marches Planned

India’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that security will be increased across the country, with all state security officials expected to remain on duty throughout the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, as protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) continue to escalate.

“We want the police to prevent an outbreak of violence but we also realize that the situation can get out of control, hence paramilitary forces will be deployed in markets and public spaces,” a senior security official in New Delhi explained.

Other measures undertaken to tamp down the protests included Internet blackouts in select areas, banning large public gatherings, and even blocking opposition politicians from making a public visit to the families of people who were killed during the protests.

“We asked the police if they have any order, they didn’t show us any order but they just said you can please go back,” opposition leader Rahul Gandhi complained after he and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped from paying such a visit. 

The Gandhis and their entourage were prevented from entering the town of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh where six protesters were killed last week. Meerut police said they did not actually forbid the convoy from entering the down, but warned the Gandhis they would be held responsible for any violence that ensued, at which point the visiting politicians turned back on their own. Police in Meerut and other parts of Uttar Pradesh claim militants are actively seeking to provoke violence at anti-CAA demonstrations.

A German exchange student who joined several protest marches carrying a sign that compared the ruling BJP party to the Nazis was expelled on Tuesday after being told he had violated the terms of his student visa by engaging in “political activities outside the campus.” Student demonstrators are a major element of the protest movement.

At least 21 deaths have been reported so far during protests against the CAA, which critics say discriminates against Muslim immigrants to India and might be used to deport Muslims already living in the country. On Tuesday the Indian Cabinet approved funding for the national census, formally known as the National Population Register (NPR), despite criticism that it will be used to target migrants with questionable legal status for deportation, particularly if they are Muslims and therefore do not enjoy the special considerations given to immigrants from other groups by the CAA.