India braces for protests over citizenship bill excluding Muslims

Lower house approves bill, drawing outcry amid claims prime minister Narendra Modi is seeking to sideline the faith

India’s lower house has passed controversial legislationthat will grant citizenship to religious minorities from neighbouring countries, but not Muslims, amid raucous scenes in parliament and protests in the country’s north-east.

The citizenship amendment bill provides that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians fleeing persecution in Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan can be granted citizenship.

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