Indian police ban protests amid citizenship law outrage

(AP) Police have detained several hundred protesters in some of India’s biggest cities as they defied bans on assembly that authorities imposed to stop widespread demonstrations against a new citizenship law.

Protests nevertheless raged around the country Thursday as opposition widened to the law, which excludes Muslims. The legislation has sparked anger at what many see as the government’s push to bring secular India closer to a Hindu state.

Authorities erected road blocks and disrupted internet and phone services, including in parts of New Delhi, and tightened restrictions on protesters in the northeastern border state of Assam, which is where the protests first began last week.