Emotions in India are running high with many angry over a controversial bill passed by the Indian government. Police reportedly killed several demonstrators in Assam state, and people torched cars and staged protests.
In Assam state's biggest city, Guwahati, around 5,000 people took to the streets Sunday in a fresh demonstration, singing, chanting and carrying banners reading "long live Assam." Security was high, with police and soldiers patrolling the streets in vehicles.
The Sunday protest came as officials confirmed that six people had died in the violence in Assam state so far, according to AFP news agency, citing officials. Police shot and killed four protesters, while another person was killed after the shop he was sleeping in was set on fire. One person died after being beaten up during a protest.
Pakistani Hindus in India welcome new citizenship act
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Oil and gas production in Assam state was hit hard by curfews, but the government decided to relax these on Sunday and some shops reopened.
In West Bengal state, protests stretched into a third day on Sunday. Demonstrators set fire to tires, staged sit-ins on highways and railway tracks, and torched trains and buses. Riot police were brought in to disperse protesters, and train services were suspended in some parts of the east.
West Bengal's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, decided to suspend internet services in several districts. An internet ban was also set to continue in Assam until Monday.
Why are the protests happening?
The Indian parliament passed a bill on Wednesday that would make it easier for minority religious groups from neighboring Muslim states to apply for citizenship. Muslims themselves would be excluded from the bill — a controversial decision by a Hindu-nationalist government in a nation that has long had simmering disputes between Hindus and Muslims.
How have politicians reacted?
Speaking Sunday at a rally in the eastern Jharkhand state, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah called for calm and said, "Culture, language, social identity and political rights of our brothers and sisters from northeast will remain intact," the Indian media outlet News18 reported.
On August 15, 1947, British India split into two nations - Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. The two countries continue to be hostile towards each other despite some efforts to improve bilateral ties.
Image: AP
Birth of two nations
In 1947, British India was divided into two countries - India and Pakistan. Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his All-India Muslim League party had first demanded autonomy for Muslim-majority areas in the undivided India, and only later a separate country for Muslims. Jinnah believed that Hindus and Muslims could not continue to live together, as they were distinctly different "nations."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/United Archives/WHA
The line of blood
The partition of British India was extremely violent. Following the birth of India and Pakistan, violent communal riots began in many western areas, mostly in Punjab. Historians say that more than a million people died in clashes, and millions more migrated from Indian territory to Pakistan and from the Pakistani side to India.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Images
The 1948 war
India and Pakistan clashed over Kashmir soon after their independence. The Muslim-majority Kashmir region was ruled by a Hindu leader, but Jinnah wanted it to be part of Pakistani territory. Indian and Pakistani troops fought in Kashmir in 1948, with India taking control of most part of the valley, while Pakistan occupied a smaller area. India and Pakistan continue to clash over Kashmir.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/M. Desfor
Like US and Canada?
Liberal historians say that Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi wanted cordial ties between newly independent states. Jinnah, for instance, believed that ties between India and Pakistan should be similar to those between the US and Canada. But after his death in 1948, his successors followed a collision course with New Delhi.
Image: AP
The 'other'
Indian and Pakistani governments present very different accounts of the partition. While India emphasizes the Indian National Congress' freedom movement against British rulers - with Gandhi as its main architect - Pakistani textbooks focus on a "struggle" against both British and Hindu "oppression." State propaganda in both countries paints each other as an "enemy" that cannot be trusted.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/AP Photo/M. Desfor
Worsening ties
Diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan have remained acrimonious for the past seven decades. The issue of Islamist terrorism has marred relations in the last few years, with New Delhi accusing Islamabad of backing Islamist jihadists to wage a war in India-administered Kashmir. India also blames Pakistan-based groups for launching terror attacks on Indian soil. Islamabad denies these claims.
Image: Picture alliance/AP Photo/D. Yasin
The way forward
Many young people in both India and Pakistan are urging their governments to improve bilateral ties. Islamabad-based documentary filmmaker Wajahat Malik believes the best way for India and Pakistan to develop a closer relationship is through more interaction between their peoples. "Trade and tourism are the way forward for us. When people come together, the states will follow suit," Malik told DW.
