Citizenship Act protests: Two dead in Mangaluru, one in Lucknow; thousands detained across India

11 pm: Historian Ramchandra Guha, who was detained in Bengaluru earlier in the day, tells NDTV that the enforcement of Section 144 in the city is the mark of a “paranoid, fearful and insecure” regime.

“The British viceroy did the same thing. [Former Prime Minister] Indira Gandhi did the same thing,” he says. “The police thought if they pick up 15 people in Bengaluru they would be scared. There was absolutely no reason to impose Section 144 unless you are plain stupid.”

10.50 pm: “We have detained around 32 people, we are registering first information report,” says Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police Aatish Bhatia, according to ANI. “We are identifying others based on CCTV footage. Nineteen police personnel were injured in the incident.” There had been clashes in Ahmedabad earlier in the day.

10.45 pm: In Mangaluru, and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, mobile internet services have been blocked for 48 hours, News18 reports. In Prayagraj, the services have been suspended till 10 am on Friday.

10.36 pm: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says people should do a “satyagraha” against the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports. “I appeal to the people of Lucknow not to take the law and order in their hands and take Mahatma Gandhi’s path of satyagraha,” he says.

10.30 pm: Tamil actor and politician Rajinikanth tweets, saying that “riots and violence will not help find solution to any problem”. “I urge that Indians should remain united and aware for the sake of national security and unity. The violence that is taking place now saddens my heart.”

10.21 pm: District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pande has instructed mobile phone service providers to suspend internet services in Ghaziabad till 10 pm Friday to avoid violence and arson in the district, the official told PTI.

10.15 pm: Unidentified officials told PTI that internet services will be suspended in Ghaziabad for 24 hours from 10 pm tonight.

9.50 pm: The two protestors who died in Mangaluru were identified as 49 year old Jaleel Kudroli, and 23 year old Nausheen, PTI reports.

9.13 pm: More than 1,200 protestors were detained by police from around Delhi’s Red Fort area today, reports PTI. Opposition leaders including D Raja, Sitaram Yechury, Nilotpal Basu, Brinda Karat, Ajay Maken and Sandeep Dikshit, and activists Yogendra Yadav and Umar Khalid, were among those detained near the Red Fort and Mandi House.

9.10 pm: Images from protests in Kozhikode.

8.40 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa makes an appeal to people of the state, asking them to “stay away from vested interests indulging in rumour mongering and stoking passions to disturb peace and harmony in the state, ANI reports.

8.37 pm: The Indian Railways has decided to move court against the West Bengal government, after anti-Citizenship Act agitations in the state led to large scale destruction of railway properties, News18 reports. The Railways claims it has suffered losses of Rs 100 crore.

8.33 pm: The website of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi has been hacked. It says “Hacked by Dark Knight to support jamia students.. Jai Hind!”

8.31 pm: Delhi Police has taken two people into custody for distributing pamphlets with allegedly inciting content on them regarding the National Register of Citizens, ANI reports. The individuals are being questioned.

8.29 pm: UP Director General of Police OP Singh says it is unlikely that the person who died in Lucknow died due to a bullet injury, The Times of India reports.

8.24 pm: Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy says the Delhi Police have stopped hitting people, the Hindustan Times reports. “Nobody should use any weapon or lathi [baton] against students or protestors,” he adds. Reddy’s comments come after a meeting called by Amit Shah in Delhi on the situation there.

8.19 pm: One person dies of firearm injury in KGMU Trauma Centre in Lucknow, PTI reports quoting an unidentified official.

8.10 pm: Mobile internet services will be restored on Friday in Assam , says state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, News18 reports. The Gauhati High Court had earlier in the day directed that they be restored by 5 pm on Thursday itself.

8.05 pm: Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh claims that the situation is normal in the city, ANI reports. “Situation is normal in the city, some incidents occurred at places where protesters had declared they will gather,” he says. “They pelted stones at us and set ablaze OB vans of media. We chased them and fired tear gas; situation has been controlled.”

8 pm: Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy says the government is willing to talk to anyone who does not indulge in violence, PTI reports. The minister adds that the first priority of the government is to maintain law and order. “After that we will examine whether some external forces were behind the protests,” he says. He defends the ban on the internet in parts of the country.

7.57 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami says his party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is under no pressure to support the Citizenship Amendment Act, PTI reports. The AIADMK believes the Act will not affect the citizenship of Indians living in the country, the chief minister says. The AIADMK is an ally of the BJP.

7.52 pm: Mangaluru Commissioner of Police PS Harsha says 20 police personnel have been injured in the violence, while two civilians are in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital, ANI reports.

7.49 pm: The police have used tear gas against protestors in Shah Alam area of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, after some police vehicles were vandalised, ANI reports.

7.44 pm: The Congress accuses the government of muzzling the voice of people through draconian measures like shutting of internet and misusing prohibitory orders, and says “undeclared emergency” has been imposed in the country, PTI reports. “This is not BJP rule, it is undeclared emergency imposed in the country, which is being run in the name of normalcy,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi says.

7.38 pm: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai blames people who allegedly came in from Kerala for the violence in Mangaluru, according to Republic TV. He calls it a “deep conspiracy”.

7.31 pm: Two people have died in Mangaluru during clashes between the protestors and the police, Reuters reports.

7.26 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says in Kolkata that an impartial organisation like United Nations or Human Rights Commission should form a committee to check how many people are in favour or against the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports.

7.22 pm: Photos of the protests in Chennai:

7.15 pm: A group of BJP MLAs have called on Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to allay the fears and concerns of protestors, amid massive demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act, PTI reports.

7.10 pm: “All schools and colleges under Mangaluru city corporation will remain closed tomorrow,” says Dakshina Kannada District Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, ANI reports.

7.07 pm: The BJP will take out a rally on Friday against the Congress government in Rajasthan for opposing the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state, PTI reports.

7.03 pm: Union minister Jitendra Singh claims that the Citizenship Amendment Act seeks to implement exactly those suggestions former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given in Parliament in 2003, PTI reports. He accuses the Congress of changing its stand based on vote-bank politics.

7 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says the government has no right to shut down colleges, telephones and the internet, as well as impose Section 144 in parts of the country. He calls it an “insult to India’s soul”.

6.55 pm: A curfew has been announced in five police station limits of the Mangaluru Commissionerate until midnight on December 21, ANI reports.

6.51 pm: The government has prepared a document to answer frequently asked questions on the Citizenship Amendment Act, ANI reports.

6.46 pm: Anti-citizenship law protestors have offered roses to security personnel at the Jantar Mantar, PTI reports. The protestors say the police can baton charge them as much as they want, but their message is “love in return for hatred”.

6.40 pm: A video of the protests in Mumbai:

6.33 pm: Hundreds of protesters, including Samajwadi Party workers and leaders, have been detained in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, PTI reports. Police have detained over 300 protesters, including former minister Rampal Nishad and former MLAs Mohsin Khan and Vijay Bahadur Yadav.

6.22 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the help of Amit Shah to prevent attacks by certain groups on students from the state, who have been agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act, PTI reports. “I wish to bring to your kind attention the state of anxiety of the parents and relatives of the students and of the government of Kerala in this regard,” Vijayan says in his letter to Shah.

6.20 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath says “properties of those involved in damaging public assets will be seized and auctioned to compensate for losses”, PTI reports. “Those involved in violence have been identified through video, CCTV footage,” he says, adding, “we will take revenge on them”.

6.07 pm: Police in Mangaluru resort to gunfire to disperse crowds.

5.55 pm: Yogendra Yadav says he and others who were detained with him have been released.

5.53 pm: A curfew is in place in parts of Mangaluru, CNN-News18 reports.

5.49 pm: From Mumbai:

5.40 pm: Police are closely monitoring social media, says Randhawa. He says Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code is imposed in North East district, Red Fort area and some parts of New Delhi.

5.36 pm: “We did not have to use much force,” Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa says. He says internet services were blocked to prevent rumour-mongering. There was no untoward incident or violence, he says. Delhi Police urges people to stay calm and peaceful.

5.21 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says at a rally in Kolkata: “Suddenly after 73 years of independence we have to prove that we are Indian citizens. BJP is dividing the country. Don’t stop your protest because we have to get CAA revoked.”

5.18 pm: Protestors detained in Ahmedabad.

5.12 pm: Only two metro stations are now closed – Jamia Millia Islamia and Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh. All others have been opened.

5.07 pm: Pictures from the protest in Mumbai:

5.04 pm: Five stations – Vishwavidyalaya, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan and Lok Kalyan Marg – are now open.

5.01 pm: Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy claims Opposition parties are fuelling protests. “Violent protests were only in a few places in Delhi and Lucknow, and there is no need to worry,” he says. “Some political parties trying to incite students, women in the name of religion.”

4.58 pm: A bus has been torched at Parivartan Chowk in Lucknow, News18 reports.

4.57 pm: Protest in Raipur:

4.50 pm: A police official in Lucknow says that the situation is under control now. “Mob had turned violent but force didn’t lose their patience,” he tells ANI. “Mob has been dispersed forcefully so that there is no loss of life or property. The force is now being moved to other location. Forty to 50 arrested across the district.”

4.46 pm: Eight flights have been delayed by between 20 and 100 minutes at Delhi airport, reports ANI.

4.45 pm: The Home Ministry will review the security situation in the evening, PTI reports.

4.36 pm: Arundhati Roy tells Scroll.in:

When you combine CAA with the NRC and when you say that citizenship will be based on the government scrutiny of a certain set of documents... this is what happened in 1935 Germany, these were what were known as the Nuremberg laws. 

I was traveling in Assam, they did this exercise, even though the Supreme Court hasn’t yet decided whether it is constitutional or not. They spent thousands of crores, they did this exercise, they were unhappy with it, now they want it again. If you have a margin of error in this exercise it will go into millions. 

They have no idea what they will do with these so-called stateless people, except create a social hierarchy in which some people have more rights than others like a modern caste system. The real idea is to create a rift, to create bigotry as an acceptable idea in our society. There are not enough prisons to hold these millions of people, it’s just an exercise, a test of whether this country will accept this fascism and the people stood up and said we will not.

4.32 pm: Author Arundhati Roy is protesting at Jantar Mantar. She tells Scroll.in: “I’m here because as I’ve said before, like demonetisation broke the back of the economy while we all stood in line and gave up our own money, now these laws are breaking the back of the Constitution. Now you can’t get more raw, open fascist than this.”

She says the Citizenship Act, combined with the NRC, is “making petitioners out of the entire population”. “Yes, it’s against Muslims, even the CAA if it’s only about immigrants, to discriminate against Muslims, to leave out Sri Lankan refugees, to not talk about persecuted Muslim minorities in other countries is unconstitutional, is against the spirit of this country,” she says.

4.30 pm: Protestors gather at August Kranti Maidan, Mumbai.

4.27 pm: Baton-charge on protestors reported from Mangaluru.

4.25 pm: Rajiv Chowk metro station is now open.

4.17 pm: One more metro station closed – Delhi Gate. Twenty stations are closed now.

4.16 pm: Gauhati High Court directs the Assam government to restore mobile internet services by 5 pm, News18 reports.

3.59 pm: AIIMS, Delhi asks its staff and students to refrain from holding any protest inside or around the campus, reports ANI.

3:55 pm: News18 tweets a picture from Madeyganj, Lucknow, where vehicles were set ablaze outside a police post.

3:54 pm: Protestors march against the new law in Nagpur.

3.48 pm: From a protest in Chennai:

3:36 pm: Around 20 people were taken into custody in Lucknow, where protestors threw stones and burnt vehicles parked outside a police post in Madeyganj area, DGP OP Singh tells PTI. Police used tear gas shells.

3:34 pm: The Delhi High Court issues notices to the Centre and Delhi Police over the Jamia incident. The court asks them to file a response and posts the matter for further hearing on February 4, ANI reports.

3:32 pm: Uttar Pradesh DGP OP Singh tells News18 that police did not fire at the protestors. “They [Protestors] just set ablaze vehicles that were parked outside the police chowki,” he says.

3:30 pm: Several teachers of Aligarh Muslim University held a silent march earlier in the day, PTI reports.

3:28 pm: Protests begin in Chennai.

3:13 pm: Sixteen flights have been delayed at Delhi airport due to a traffic jam on NH-8, reports Business Standard. Nineteen IndiGo flights have been cancelled as the crew got stuck in the traffic jams.

3:11 pm: A protest in Lucknow has turned violent, reports News18.

3:09 pm: BJP working president JP Nadda, who met refugees from Afghanistan, says the amended Citizenship Act will be implemented, and so will the NRC in the future, PTI reports.

3:01 pm: A protest was organised in Jammu as well, by CPI(M) activists, PTI reports.

2:59 pm: Protests in Delhi have now moved to Jantar Mantar.

2:58 pm: Protestors raising “Azadi” slogans in Bengaluru:

2:55 pm: From a protest in Lucknow:

2:46 pm: Yogendra Yadav urges protestors to go to Jantar Mantar to continue their protest.

2:45 pm: Sambhal district administration suspends internet services, ANI reports. A state-run bus was set ablaze in the district during a protest.

2:38 pm: The Samajwadi Party and Congress legislators protest at the legislative assembly complex in Lucknow, PTI reports.

2:37 pm: Protests continue at Town Hall in Bengaluru.

2:33 pm: Pictures from a protest in Kolkata:

2:30 pm: Police baton-charge protestors in Ahmedabad, ANI reports.

2:29 pm: The Rajiv Chowk metro station is also closed for entry and exit now. However, passengers can change trains and lines there.

2:24 pm: Activist Harsh Mander recorded a video message after being detained. “We are protesting, but our protest is against hate.”

2:17 pm: Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan and activist Harsh Mander, after having been detained, were brought to the Model Police Station, where they continue to protest.

2:16 pm: Congress Member of Parliament Rajeev Gowda says he has moved the Karnataka High Court against the imposition of Section 144, and the case will come up on Friday.

2:12 pm: The Newsminute’s Dhanya Rajendran tweets out a video from Bengaluru’s Town Hall where protesters are themselves asking everyone to act in a calm manner.

2:11 pm: In Hyderabad, police stations are themselves turning into protest sites.

2:07 pm: Near Jamia Milia Islamia, site of violent action by police against protesters over the weekend, protesters of other faiths formed a human chain as the Muslims among them were praying.

2:04 pm: Protests against the Citizenship Act and the NRC are also on in Araria, Bihar.

2:02 pm: In one of the first few comments by anyone in government, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tells CNN-News18 that they are willing to talk to students but not to “‘tukde tukde’ gang, urban Maoists or any other political party.”

2:01 pm: NDTV reports that Section 144 has been imposed in Lucknow, where a protest was slated for 2 pm today.

2 pm: Activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan has also been detained from the ITO protest.

1:57 pm: ANI reports on a state transport bus having been set ablaze in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly during a protest against the Act.

1:56 pm: In Delhi, protesters are gathering at Jantar Mantar, the traditional spot of protests in the capital.

1:55 pm: One Twitter user says that people are being given permission to gather in Ahmedabad, but only if they are in support of the Act.

1:54 pm: Activist Harsh Mander has also been detained at Mandi House.

1:52 pm: More stations in Delhi are being shut by the Metro Corporation.

1:43 pm: BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal has reiterated his call for Muslims to also be included in the Citizenship Amendment Act.

1:39 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asks, where will Hindus from other countries be settled?

1:37 pm: Protests are also taking place in Assam today, where the internet has been restricted for days on end.

1:32 pm: Avinash Kumar, the executive director of Amnesty India, has called on Indian authorities to allow peaceful protests.

“Authorities across India must understand that a peaceful protest is a legitimate use of public space. Denying permission for peaceful protests shows an apparent disdain for the right to freedom of expression which is both misguided and dangerous.
Indian courts have ruled that expression can be restricted on grounds of public order only when it involves incitement to imminent violence or disorder. The authorities must stop criminalising protest, lift disproportionate restrictions on free assembly and expression and ensure protection of all human rights.”

1:26 pm: The BJP working president had called a meeting on Friday of all the general secretaries of the party to discuss the protests, but that has now been postponed.

1:19 pm: Social activist Umar Khalid was one of those detained at Red Fort.

1:17 pm: In Karwi, Chitrakoot, in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party is protesting, despite the imposition of Section 144 which bans the assembly of more than 4 people.

1:16 pm: In one video from the Bengaluru site, a protestor is seen offering a rose to the police.

1:15 pm: Pictures have emerged that appear to be the orders from police calling for mobile phone services to be shut down in portions of Delhi between 9 am and 1 pm.

1:14 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has extended solidarity to those detained and said that the Central government is doing this out of fear.

“This government is scared of students. This government is scared of one of India’s most accomplished historians for speaking to the media on CAB-NRC and holding a poster of GandhiJi. I condemn the detention  of Ram Guha. We extend our full solidarity to all those detained.” 

1:13 pm: In Delhi, many are making their way toward Jantar Mantar as protesters are being detained at the Red Fort and Mandi House.

1:11 pm: At Puducherry University, students organised a human chain against NRC and CAA on the last day of classes.

1:10 pm: Mishi Choudhary, Technology Lawyer, has criticised the internet shutdown in parts of the capital.

“It’s really concerning that the capital city of the largest democracy in the world has shut the internet down and cut off its citizens from communicating. This is unprecedented and could have an irreversible and detrimental impact on India’s aspiration to become a Digital Leader,” she said.

1:07 pm: One Twitter user claims police in Chennai picked up a couple that was getting into their house.

1:06 pm: In Bangalore, police have permitted protesters to walk towards the Town Hall, after originally detaining everyone who attempted to do so.

1:05 pm: 62 people were arrested or detained overnight before today’s protests says Uttar Pradesh Police. Three were arrested for distributing “objectionable pamphlets” in Meerut.

1:04 pm: Yogendra Yadav, who was detained earlier, tweets out pictures coming in from a protest in Yamunanagar, Haryana.

1:03 pm: The Hyderabad Police says 50 people were taken into custody in the South Zone of the city.

1:01 pm: Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi who was supposed to launch free Wi-Fi services in the capital this week, said it was ironic that the Central government was ordering an internet shutdown today. He also called on the Centre to take back the Act.

12:59 pm: Protests are also on in Jharkhand, Ranchi against the Citizenship Amendment Act as well as the National Register of Citizens.

12:57 pm: Left leaders D Raja and Sitharam Yechury were also detained by police at Mandi House in Delhi.

12:55 pm: More stations on the Delhi Metro now shut, taking it to seventeen in total shut in the nation’s capital in the hopes of preventing people from reaching protests.

12.50 pm: Actor and political leader Kamal Haasan appeals to Chennai police commissioner to not stop protestors from raising “democratic voices” at Valluvar Kottam. This is the area where the police denied permission for a large protest that was scheduled to take place at 3pm.

12.45 pm: Videos posted on social media show protestors shouting slogans at Mandi House in Delhi.

12.40 pm: Vodafone has confirmed to Medianama that the government has ordered an internet shutdown in parts of Delhi and the national capital region. Earlier, responding to a customer on Twitter, Airtel had said calls, SMS and mobile internet have been closed in parts of Delhi on government orders. The areas affected reportedly include Mandi House, Jamia Nagar, Shahin Bagh, Okhla, Seelampur, Jaffrabad.

12.35 pm: A large crowd gathered near Town Hall in Bengaluru is singing protest songs. An attempt by the police to break the gathering with a lathicharge failed, Newsminute’s Prajwal Manipal reports.

12.30 pm: Hyderabad police has detained protestors who had gathered at Exhibition Ground. Those detained include civil society activists and students from Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences. They have been taken to Ramgopalpet and Narayanaguda police stations.

12.20 pm: The Union Home Ministry has asked Delhi’s neighbouring states to keep a check on their borders with the national capital, India’s government broadcaster Prasar Bharati said. This has been done on the basis of “inputs” that people of neighbouring states were mobilising to gather in Delhi, it said.

12.15 pm: Gurugram Police confirm Delhi Police has sealed its southern border with Haryana. Massive traffic jams have built up in Gurugram as vehicles are unable to enter Delhi.

12.10 pm: Mumbai Police have issued a traffic advisory for those travelling to South Mumbai where a large protest is scheduled to take place in the August Kranti Maidan.

12.10 pm: In this video taken by Scroll.in’s Vijayta Lalwani, protestors can be seen defying prohibitory orders on Nishadraj Marg near Red Fort around noon on Thursday.

12.05 pm: The telecom company Airtel confirms that the government has placed restrictions on calls, SMS and mobile internet in parts of Delhi.

12.00 pm: Moments before the police detained him in Bengaluru, this is what historian Ramachandra Guha said:

“We are protesting against this totally discriminatory act which is against our Constitution and also Section 144. Are we a colonial regime? British Raj used Section 144 to suppress Gandhi ji’s movement. I feel sorry for the police that masters in Delhi have to give them these orders. We are for the values of pluralism and democracy. I am the biographer of Mahatma Gandhi. I know what Gandhi ji stood for, and the present government in Delhi, the BJP government, is totally antithetical to the values of the freedom struggle and the Hindu-Muslim unity that Gandhi advocated.”

You can watch the video here.

11:55 am: Student protestors sat on railways tracks near Rajendra Nagar Terminus in Patna, Bihar, disrupting the movement of trains on Thursday morning, PTI reports.

11.50 am: Protestors have blocked a highway in Vadgam in Gujarat after the police denied them permission to hold a demonstration. The local MLA Jignesh Mevani, who is taking part in the demonstration, posted a video.

11.40 am: Reports suggest internet has been shut down in Central Delhi’s ITO area where several newspaper office and the Delhi Police headquarters are located.

11.35 am: Delhi Police has detained several protestors who gathered near the Red Fort. This includes Yogendra Yadav, the leader of Swaraj India, News 18 reports. Video footage shows the police taking him away, as a scrum of cameras follow.

11.30 am: About 100 students of the Hyderabad Central University have been detained in Moinabad police station in Hyderabad. The police have denied permission for protests against the Citizenship Act. The students were on their way to the venue when they were detained.

11.20 am: Delhi Police has placed barricades at the borders and are checking all vehicles entering the city. This has led to massive traffic jams in Gurugram.

11.15 am: Historian Ramachandra Guha and others detained in Bengaluru after they defy prohibitory orders and come out to protest against the Citizenship Act.

11.10 am: Left parties and Muslim organisations protest against Citizenship Amendment Act in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi, reports ANI. More than 20 protestors have been detained.

11.06 am: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa accuses Congress of fuelling protestsagainst the amendments to the Citizenship Act, reports ANI. “Because of people like UT Khader situation is becoming like this,” he says. “Taking care of Muslims is our responsibility. Request all to maintain peace. If Congress leaders continue to support protests then they’ll face consequences.”

10.52 am: Chennai Police revoke permission for a rally scheduled today against the amendments to the Citizenship Act in Valluvar Kottam, reports ANI.

10.42 am: Yogendra Yadav, prominent activist and leader of Swaraj India, says the protest march against the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens will continue according to the scheduled time from Lal Qila. Prohibitory orders have been imposed near Red Fort ahead of the protest.

10.40 am: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation says entry and exit gates of Central Secretariat are closed, adding that interchange facility is available at the station.

10.35 am: Traffic Police say they are inspecting every car entering Delhi to ensure that potential protestors do not enter the city, according to NDTV.

10.30 am: Massive traffic jams in many parts of Delhi as police impose restrictions ahead of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “Traffic congestion has been reported at Delhi-Gurugram border on NH 48 due to barricading by Delhi Police,” Gurugram Traffic Police tweets.

10.25 am: Entry and exit gates of Patel Chowk, Lok Kalyan Marg, Udyog Bhawan, ITO, Pragati Maidan and Khan Market have also been closed, says Delhi Metro Corporation. So far, 14 metro stations have been closed ahead of protests against amended citizenship law.

10.21 am: Gathering of more than four people has been banned under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Delhi’s Red Fort ahead of the scheduled protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, reports PTI.

10.10 am: The Congress and Left parties will hold a protest at the August Kranti Maidan in Delhi, reports PTI. They called the Citizenship Amendment Act as “unconstitutional and discriminatory”.

Also read: BJP is blaming Congress for CAA-NRC protests – but its own allies oppose the new law

9.52 am: Delhi Police say they have not given permission for the march to be held under the banner of “Hum Bharat Ke Log” against the Citizenship Amendment Act from Lal Quila to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park at 11.30 am today, reports ANI.

9.50 am: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar tells Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to “give up agitational path in the interest of peace so that normalcy returns and suffering of people is contained” as the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stop the implementation of the amended law.

9.45 am: Delhi Police say no permission has been given for the protest march to be held by Communist Party of India (Marxist) from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar against the implementation of the amended Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens, reports ANI.

9.40 am: Trains will also not halt at Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk and Vishwavidyalaya stations, the Delhi Metro Corporation adds.

9.38 am: The Delhi Metro Corporation announces that entry and exit gates of Jamia Millia Islamia, Jasola Vihar Shaheen Bagh and Munirka stations have been closed. Trains will not halt at these stations.

9.30 am: Deputy Commissioner Sindu B Roopesh has issued orders to ban large gatherings under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, reports ANI.

9.25 am: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has held a meeting with senior police officers including Bangalore City Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, reports ANI. The chief minister has instructed the security officials to take all measures to avoid any untoward incident after Left wing and Muslim organisations have called for a day-long strike to protest against the new citizenship law.

9.20 am: Police personnel deployed in Town Hall area as Left parties and Muslim organisations have called a bandh against the amended Citizenship Act, reports ANI. Authorities have imposed Section 144 throughout Bengaluru from 6 am today for the next three days.

9.05 am: Samajwadi Party and some other organisations in Uttar Pradesh have announced that they will protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act later in the day.

9.02 am: Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh said on Wednesday no permission has been given for protests as prohibitory orders are in place in the entire state.

9.01 am: Here are the top updates from Wednesday:

• The Karnataka government banned gatherings in Bengaluru and other parts of the state from Thursday 6 am till December 21 midnight.    
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for not maintaining peace as protests continued against the law.  
• The Supreme Court, meanwhile, refused to stop the implementation of the amended law, and issued a notice to the Centre. It was hearing nearly 60 petitions challenging the recent amendments to the Citizenship Act. The top court also asked the central government to respond to the pleas by the second week of January.