Thousands Renew Protests in India Against Citizenship Law

Thousands of people took to the streets in India again on Wednesday against a new citizenship law based on religion that has touched off violent unrest, and a southern state imposed curbs on public gatherings to pre-empt further demonstrations.

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Protesters say the exclusion of Muslims betrays a deep-seated bias against the community, which makes up 14 percent of India's population, and that the law is the latest move in a series by the Hindu nationalist government to marginalize them.

At a protest in front of New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia university, which was stormed by police on Sunday night, leaving 200 students injured, 70-year old Fasiur Rehman accused Modi's administration of targeting Muslims.

"This government wants to turn us into second-class citizens," he said, as several hundred protesters around him raised slogans, held up banners, and waved the Indian flag.

On Wednesday, police fired shots in the air in a Muslim-dominated part of Delhi to repel thousands of demonstrators, demanding the law be withdrawn.

In the northeastern state of Assam, which has seen some of the most violent protests against the CAA, thousands of people came out on the streets of several cities on Wednesday.

"We shall continue with our agitation till we get a favourable response from the Supreme Court," said Samujjal Bhattacharya of the All Assam Students' Union.

In West Bengal state,  four people were injured in the Uttar Dinajpur district after a procession against the CAA, local official Arvind Meena said.

India's Supreme Court turned down a plea on Wednesday to halt implementation of the law but said it would hold hearings next month on the sweeping measure, which critics have described as anti-Muslim.

Authorities in the southern state of Karnataka have moved to ban large public gatherings in at least three major cities, a police official said.

The restrictions will come into force on Thursday morning, including in the state capital Bengaluru where offices of dozens of multinational companies including Walmart Inc's Flipkart, Uber, Infosys and Wipro, are based.

Similar restrictions will also be imposed in Lucknow, capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state, to head off protests, a local official said.

At a news conference with his Indian counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said Washington said: "We honor Indian democracy as they have a robust debate inside India on the issue."

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar repeated the government's line that it was a measure designed to address the needs of allegedly persecuted non-Muslim minorities such as Hindus.