Twenty-two people have been killed in India since anti-Citizenship Act protests erupted last week. Five people have died in Assam, which was the initial epicentre of the protests, when the police opened fire on protestors on December 17. Two people were killed in police firing in the coastal city of Mangaluru in Karnataka on December 19. The highest number of deaths have been reported from Uttar Pradesh, where 15 people were killed since December 19.

Over the last week, internet was suspended in the whole of Uttar Pradesh and in several districts of the states, with bans imposed on public gatherings under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in at least nine states. Thousands of protestors were detained across the country, with 3,000 detentions in the state of Assam alone, where 329 people were arrested. On a single day – December 19 – the authorities confirmed 1,200 people had been detained in Delhi.

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The police fired tear gas shells in two university campuses and a hospital as street battles raged between the police and the protestors in many places across the country. Many protestors and policemen have been injured. In some places, property was damaged.

A map showing areas with prohibitory orders in place.
A map showing areas with internet shutdowns.

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  1. Did Mangaluru police fire tear gas in a hospital? Two eyewitnesses describe what they saw
  2. ‘It’s now or never’: Why young, urban Muslims plunged into the anti-Citizenship Act protests
  3. In Aligarh, police used stun grenades against students – and university officials justified this