In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Mridula Kakati Hazarika, 78, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. ...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Mridula Kakati Hazarika, 78, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Hazarika said she has come to join the protest as she cannot sit inside her home while the country burns against CAA. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Bipin Phukan, 82, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens ...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Bipin Phukan, 82, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Phukan said he was angry on the Bill being passed and made law and said he cannot accept the CAA. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Bina Bora, 70, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousa...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Bina Bora, 70, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Bora asked why the government is forcefully implementing an act that will destroy unity in the country. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Gajendra Nath Pathak, 81, participates in a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Gajendra Nath Pathak, 81, participates in a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Pathak said that he would resist the Act the last drop of his blood and not allow it to be implemented. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Lokeswar Bora, 72, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of th...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Lokeswar Bora, 72, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Bora said the Act was unacceptable and demanded that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdraw it immediately. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Runu Goswami, 77, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of tho...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Runu Goswami, 77, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Goswami said her heart broke when she heard the news of a boy being killed in police firing and asked how a student could be killed for protesting against the act. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Ram Prasad Das, 75, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Ten...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Ram Prasad Das, 75, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Das said he will fight against the CAA till the day he dies. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Maya Choudhary, 62, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Ten...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Maya Choudhary, 62, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Choudhary said she will fight against CAA and hoped the government would withdraw the act soon. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Ananta Ram Hazarika, 75, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Ananta Ram Hazarika, 75, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Hazarika said the people of Assam were warriors and would not spare the India Government if the act was not withdrawn. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Sayad Jaherul Islam, 78, participates in a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India, Mo...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Sayad Jaherul Islam, 78, participates in a protest against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India, Monday, Dec. 23, 2019. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Islam said the act that the Indian government has forcefully passed is not acceptable. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Kalparanjan Gogoi, 64, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. ...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Kalparanjan Gogoi, 64, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Gogoi said he would oppose CAA till the day he dies, adding "I am ready to take a bullet in my head." (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Nityananda Phukan, 77, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. ...
In this Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, photo, Nityananda Phukan, 77, participates in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Gauhati, India. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Narendra Modi’s government to marginalize the country’s 200 million Muslims. Phukan demanded that the government withdraw the act immediately. "I am ready to take bullet in my chest but will not allow the CAA to be implemented," he said. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
GAUHATI, India (AP) — Senior citizens in India's northeastern Assam state have protested against a new citizenship law passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that excludes Muslims.
About 1,500 senior citizens held a protest in the state capital, Gauhati, on Monday. Protests in the state against the law have spread across the country, claiming at least 23 lives.
“Until our last drop of blood, we will not allow them to implement it,” said Gajendra Nath Pathak, 81, who joined the senior citizens' protest.
Bina Bora, 70, said she couldn't sit at home while other people were protesting the law. "Why is the government forcefully implementing such a law, which will destroy unity," she asked.
The new Citizenship Amendment Act allows Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally to become citizens if they can show they were persecuted because of their religion in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It does not apply to Muslims.
Thousands of people have protested in Assam in the past week, setting up blockades and disrupting traffic and business. At least five people were killed in the state when police fired to quell the demonstrations.
Assam was the site of an earlier government program to create an official list of citizens to weed out foreigners living in the state illegally. About 2 million people were excluded from list, about half Hindu and half Muslim, and have been asked to prove their citizenship or else be considered foreign.
Opposition parties say the Citizenship Amendment Act could provide a fast track to naturalization for many of the Hindus left off Assam's citizenship list, while explicitly leaving out Muslims.
