Human Rights

Jaipur, Dec 27 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of plunging the nation into turmoil and unrest with their ill-thought-out Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens.

Accusing the Centre of fuelling unrest and disrupting communal harmony in the state, the Congress leader asked the government to revoked the Citizenship Amendment Act.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Police on Friday detained a group of protesters who tried to stage a demonstration outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan against alleged police atrocities in the state following the agitation over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Jamia Coordination Committee, which comprises students from various political groups active on the campus, had called for a "gherao" of the UP Bhawan.

There was heavy security deployment outside the venue. As soon as some protesters arrived, they were detained and taken to the Mandir Marg police station.

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Entry and exit gates at Lok Kalyan Marg Metro station were closed on Friday in view of protest marches being taken out near it in the city.

"Entry & exit gates of Lok Kalyan Marg are closed. Trains will not be halting at this station," the DMRC tweeted.

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Students and social activists on Friday held a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The protesters gathered at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai and gave slogans against the government. They carried banners decrying the Modi government over the move.

Kolkata, Dec 27 (PTI) The opposition Left Front and Congress Friday took out a joint rally in the city to protest against the contentious amended Citizenship Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens.

The rally was led by West Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra and senior Left Front leaders from Subodh Mullick Square to Mahajati Sadan in central Kolkata.

Carrying posters and placards against BJP-led government at the Centre, Congress and LF activists shouted slogans against bringing in the 'divisive' Citizenship Amendment Act.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Paramilitary and police forces were deployed and the internet shut down Friday in Muslim-majority districts in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which has experienced the highest death toll in protests that have erupted nationwide against a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims.

Security drones buzzed over western Uttar Pradesh, where protests turned violent after last week’s Friday prayers.

MADRID, Dec 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Around 100 migrants were rescued off the coast of Spain on Thursday, adding to around another 200 plucked off makeshift boats on Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said.

More than half of them were found off the Costa Blanca on Spain’s southeastern coast, with 10 people rescued just before dawn, among them eight men, a woman and a child.

Later in the morning, rescuers saved 16 men off a boat near Torrevieja, while another 12 men were rescued from a dinghy off Xabia, some 45 kilometres up the coast from Benidorm.

27 Dec 2019; MEMO: In a rare display of public opinion in Dubai, a small demonstration has been held to protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial citizenship law passed earlier this month.

Writer and human rights activist Iyad El-Baghdadi pointed out that the protestors could potentially be deported by the UAE authorities due to the fact that political demonstrations are outlawed in the country.

26 Dec 2019; MEMO: Pope Francis on Wednesday decried the international migrant crisis in his traditional Christmas address,  Anadolu reports.

“It is injustice that makes them cross deserts and seas that become cemeteries,” said the pontiff in his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) Christmas Day message, addressing crowds from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

26 Dec 2019; MEMO: Nearly 130,000 civilians have been displaced in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

Some 12 million people are in need of medical assistance in Syria as regime and Russian jets pound civilian settlements, according to a statement.