Indians riot against racially biased citizenship bill

COLOMBO(News 1st) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for calm as violent protests against a new law on illegal migrants entered the fifth day. The Prime Minister said this is the time to maintain peace, unity, and brotherhood. Protests broke out across nine states, including in major cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and the capital New Delhi, mostly around university campuses. The protests which left six people dead, began in the North-Eastern state of Assam on Thursday, before spreading to other parts of northern and eastern India. In Lucknow, students pelted stones at police who locked up the gates of a college in the northern city to prevent them from taking to the streets. In capital New Delhi and northeastern Guwahati city, cultural protests dominated the voice of dissent against the law. Mariyam Alvi, NDTV reporting for News 1st from New Delhi stated that demonstrators in the Indian capital New Delhi set fire to buses and cars during a protest. "Protesters are angry at a law entitling citizenship to some non-Muslim migrants from three Muslim-majority countries. But people are divided on why they have taken to the streets. Some critics say the law is anti-Muslim, while others, especially in border regions, fear large-scale migration" she added.