Babri demolition re-enactment: RSS leader among five booked by Karnataka Police

The police in Karnataka have booked five members of a school administration near Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada district for allegedly making students re-enact the 1992 demolition of Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid during a school event, PTI reported on Tuesday. This came a day after videos of the school’s December 15 annual sports day, where the performance was held, started doing the rounds on social media.

Imran Khan on Citizenship Act: ‘Modi government’s policies can cause a big refugee crisis’

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday warned the international community that the Narendra Modi government’s policies might trigger a “big refugee crisis” in South Asia, Dawn reported. Khan, who made the remarks at the first meeting of the Global Refugee Forum in the city of Geneva in Switzerland, mentioned three actions of the Indian government – the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam, and the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Supreme Court dismisses plea asking for Hindus to be declared minority group in eight states

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by advocate and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking declaration of Hindus as a minority group in eight states and Union Territories, Bar and Bench reported. The public interest litigation had sought that minorities be identified based on their population in a state.

Citizenship Act protests turn violent in Delhi’s Seelampur, police use tear gas to disperse crowd

Protests against the amended Citizenship Act turned violent in Northeast Delhi’s Seelampur area on Tuesday as demonstrators pelted stones at police personnel, damaged public buses, and burnt vehicles, PTI reported. This came a day after thousands had assembled at a peaceful protest led by students at India Gate.

Citizenship Act protests: ‘Urban Naxals’ instigating students for their politics, claims PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged students to debate and protest against government policies they disagree with, but asked them to be wary of “urban Naxals” who he claimed were using them for their politics. Speaking at an election rally in Jharkhand, Modi blamed the Congress and other Opposition parties for creating fear among Muslims about the amendments to the Citizenship Act.

Citizenship Act: Uddhav Thackeray compares police action in Jamia to Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday compared the police action against protestors at the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi to the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, ANI reported.

Mumbai coastal road project: SC asks government to go ahead with reclaiming land

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the order of the Bombay High Court which had quashed the Coastal Regulation Zone clearances granted for the southern part of Mumbai’s coastal road project, ANI reported. In October, the Supreme Court had said that it would hear pleas against the Bombay High Court order after the Diwali break.

2012 gangrape case: CJI Bobde recuses himself from hearing convict’s review plea

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on Tuesday recused himself from hearing the review petition of one of the convicts in the 2012 gangrape case. He will set up a new bench to hear the plea on Wednesday.

Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Sengar’s sentencing deferred as court seeks his nomination papers

A court in Delhi on Tuesday deferred the sentencing of rape convict MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar till December 20. The court asked Sengar’s lawyers to submit his nomination papers to ascertain his financial status for determining compensation to the victim. The court had convicted Sengar on Monday for raping a minor in 2017.

Jamia, AMU protests: SC asks petitioners to go to High Courts, refuses to send inquiry teams

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the pleas against police action on students at Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh should be referred to relevant High Courts. The top court also refused to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the police action against students.

Jamia Millia violence was well-planned conspiracy, no student among those arrested: Delhi Police

The violence that broke out on Sunday evening after a protest march by Jamia Millia Islamia University students was well-planned and not a spontaneous one, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Kumar Gyanesh told the media on Tuesday. He said an investigation was underway, and 10 people have been arrested. However, no student was among those taken into custody.

UP: Rape complainant sets herself on fire outside Unnao police station after accused gets bail

A 23-year-old woman on Monday set herself on fire outside the office of the Unnao superintendent of police in Uttar Pradesh after a man she had accused of rape got anticipatory bail from the court. Witnesses told the police that she poured kerosene on her body and set herself ablaze before she trying to enter the premises.

Eight states have had internet shutdowns in last one month, Kashmir enters 135th day of blockades

Internet services have been shut down by authorities on multiple occasions in parts of as many as eight states in the last one month, most recently in the North East amid protests against the amended Citizenship Act. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, meanwhile, entered its 135th day of internet shutdown, making it the second longest such period in India ever.

Citizenship Act: Akhil Gogoi charged with criminal conspiracy, unlawful association under UAPA

Assam-based anti-corruption and Right to Information activist Akhil Gogoi has been charged with criminal conspiracy, intention to cause riot against national integration and unlawful association under the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, junior lawyer Kishore Kalita told Scroll.in on Tuesday. Scroll.in has seen a copy of the first information report against Gogoi.

Over 400 students, alumni from US campuses join student groups in India protesting police action

Student groups across India have issued statements to condemn the amended Citizenship Act and the police action against students at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University on Sunday night. On Monday, campuses across India had erupted in protest against the alleged police brutality.

Doctors say two Jamia protestors have bullet wounds; police deny firing, say could be tear gas shell

The Delhi Police action during the crackdown in Jamia Millia Islamia University has triggered a controversy as questions are being raised about the possible use of live bullets, NDTV reported.

The medical superintendent of government-run Safdarjung Hospital said that two Jamia protestors who were admitted have sustained bullet injuries, in sharp contradiction to the police claims that they used “maximum restraint, minimum force” and did not use firearms.

Mamata Banerjee stays all work related to NPR amid protests over citizenship law

The West Bengal government on Monday stayed all work related to the preparation and update of the National Population Register in the state, reported PTI. The decision comes amid violent protests across the state over the amended Citizenship Act.

“No activity regarding NPR may be taken up without prior clearance from the government of West Bengal,” read an order issued by the Home and Hill Affair Department Census Cell, according to PTI. “The order is issued in the interest of public order.” The letter was sent to all the district magistrates and commissioners of Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporations.

Arundhati Roy on Citizenship Act: ‘We are faced with the biggest challenge since Independence’

Author Arundhati Roy on Monday urged Indian citizens to stand up against the implementation of the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens, saying the government is set to “break the back of our Constitution and cut the ground from under our feet”.

Citizenship Act protests: Delhi Police arrest 10 for Jamia Millia violence, no student among them

At least 10 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday. However, no student was among those taken into custody. “They’ve been booked for rioting and mob violence,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal.

‘Mandate is to govern but carry others with you’: Pranab Mukherjee amid Citizenship Act protests

Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said a numerical majority in the elections only gives a political party the right to form a “stable government” and not a “majoritarian” one, reported PTI. His comments, made at the second Atal Bihari Vajpayee memorial lecture in New Delhi, come in the backdrop of raging protests against the amended Citizenship Act.

“The mandate is to govern as a majority party with a stable government, but carry others with you,” Mukherjee said, according to Hindustan Times. “That is why we think we can do anything and everything, when we have an overwhelming majority in the legislature. But that should not be the case.”

Chief justice forms panel of two SC judges to expedite trials in sexual assault cases

Chief Justice of India SA Bobde on Monday formed a panel of two Supreme Court judges to speed up clearing sexual assault cases, reported Bar and Bench. The judicial committee of Justices Subhash Reddy and MR Shah will “monitor, supervise and make suggestions for expeditious trial in cases relating to rape and POCSO across the country”.

Citizenship Act protests engulf campuses across India as students express solidarity with Jamia, AMU

Campus protests erupted across the country on Monday against the amended Citizenship Act and the alleged police brutality against the protesting students of Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi and the Aligarh Muslim University the previous night, PTI reported.

The protests began soon after the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday evening, as students of Aligarh Muslim University gathered at the campus gate later on the same night. The protests turned into clashes with the police, and over 100 students were reportedly injured

West Bengal: Over 300 arrested amid Citizenship Act protests, rail tracks and roads blocked again

Protests against the amended Citizenship Act continued in West Bengal on Monday even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for calm, PTI reported. Banerjee led a huge protest rally against the amended law and pledged not to implement it in the state.

Protestors continued to block roads and railway tracks. Police said that 354 people were arrested so far. Agitators blocked thoroughfares in districts such as East Midnapore, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, and Malda, police said.

Centre releases Rs 35,000 crore compensation to states, days before GST council meeting

The Centre on Monday said it had released Rs 35,298 crore for states and Union Territories as compensation for the Goods and Services Tax framework, just days before a GST Council meeting in which the matter was certain to come up.

‘Ram temple in Ayodhya will be built within four months,’ says Amit Shah at Jharkhand rally

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said a grand Ram temple “touching the skies” will be built in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya within four months, ANI reported.

“For a hundred years, people across the world have demanded a temple at the site where Lord Ram was born,” the Bharatiya Janata Party president said at a rally in Pakur district in Jharkhand. “The Supreme Court’s decision has now come and in four months a sky-high temple will come up in Ayodhya.”