MUMBAI – The police detained one of the country’s most respected historians and intellectuals, Ramachandra Guha, on Thursday during a demonstration in Bengaluru against a new citizenship law based on religion.

Indian news channels showed footage of Guha being dragged by three policemen near barricades erected to hold back protesters challenging the law, which critics say is prejudicial to Muslims and undermines the country’s secular constitution.

“I am protesting non-violently, but look they are stopping us,” said Guha before being surrounded by police at the demonstration, one of four held in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Several cities, including the capital New Delhi and Bengaluru, imposed curbs on public gatherings after some protests turned violent in the days since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government passed the legislation last week.

Reuters

December 19, 2019

Reporting by Rupam Jain and Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.