India protests: Modi government cracks down on phone, internet as death toll rises

• Law passed on December 11 gives people from persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries easier path to citizenship – unless they are Muslim
• Internet shutdowns are a favoured tactic for Modi’s government. Authorities have interrupted internet services at least 102 times so far this year

Activists of the Youth Forum for Kashmir burn an Indian flag with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFPActivists of the Youth Forum for Kashmir burn an Indian flag with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFP
Activists of the Youth Forum for Kashmir burn an Indian flag with pictures of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFP
Indian authorities have stepped up phone and mobile internet shutdowns in some parts of the country in an effort to thwart a groundswell of protests over a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims.
Thousands of people joined rallies on Saturday, with 23 killed so far in the unrest, police said. The death toll jumped after demonstrations turned violent on Friday in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, leaving at least 11 dead including an eight-year-old boy, who was trampled.
On Saturday more protests began in cities including Chennai, capital of southern Tamil Nadu state, and Patna in eastern Bihar state. Crowds were also expected again in the national capital New Delhi.
Disquiet has been growing about the law, which was passed by parliament on December 11 and gives people from persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries an easier path to citizenship – but not if they are Muslim. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims and is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu-nationalist agenda, a claim his political party has denied.
“This piece of legislation strikes at the heart of the Constitution, seeking to make India another country altogether,” prominent historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an Indian newspaper, The Telegraph, after being detained and then released for protesting in the southern city of Bangalore. “It is thus that so many people from so many different walks of life have raised their voices against it.”
Student-led protests that have galvanised a large section of the Indian public have been met with communications blocks in areas of New Delhi, in the eastern state of West Bengal, the northern city of Aligarh and the entire state of Assam in the days since the contentious law was passed in parliament.
In Aligarh, where police beat students and fired tear gas shells inside a university last week, internet services on Saturday were suspended for the sixth straight day. The services were also barred in the capital of northern Uttar Pradesh, where nine people have been killed statewide in protests since Friday.
Internet shutdowns are a favoured tactic for Modi’s government. Authorities have interrupted internet services at least 102 times so far this year, according to a public online tracker maintained by the New Delhi-based Software Freedom Law Centre.
In 2018, the #KeepItOn coalition, which works with the support of 191 organisations globally, and the non-profit group Access Now reported that of the 196 internet shutdowns reported from 25 countries, India was responsible for the majority, with 134 incidents – almost 67 per cent of the world’s documented shutdowns.
Since Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government first came into power in 2014, the internet has been suspended more than 360 times.