At least 14 killed in clashes between police and protesters since law passed on 10 days ago

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, met his council of ministers on Saturday to discuss security measures to end violent protests against a citizenship law, in one of the biggest crises his Hindu nationalist government has faced.

At least 14 people have been killed in clashes between police and protesters since parliament passed the law on 11 December. Critics saying it discriminates against Muslims and undermines India’s secular constitution.

The backlash is the strongest show of dissent against Modi’s government since he was first elected in 2014, and demonstrations continued on Saturday despite curfews and a draconian regulation to shut down protests.

India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has been worst affected so far. Nine people killed have been killed so far and several more are in a critical condition in hospital.

Rights activists in Uttar Pradesh said police had raided their homes and offices to prevent them from planning fresh demonstrations. Authorities also shut schools across the state as fresh protests erupted on Saturday.

Uttar Pradesh is ruled by Modi’s party and has long been the scene of clashes between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

In Delhi, family members waited outside a police station seeking the release of dozens of detained protesters.

More demonstrations are planned in several parts of the country, including the north-eastern state of Assam, where residents are angry that the law makes it easier for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who settled in India before 2015 to obtain Indian citizenship.

Resentment against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh has simmered for years in Assam, one of India’s poorest states, where outsiders, Hindus or Muslims, are accused of stealing jobs and land.

“Thousands of women are participating in the protest across Assam. The movement against the act is gaining momentum by the day,” said Sammujjal Bhattacharya, a leader of the All Assam Students’ Union.

Critics in other parts of India see the law as discriminating against Muslims, and are angry because it makes religion a criteria for citizenship in a country that has taken pride in its secular constitution.

“This piece of legislation strikes at the heart of the constitution, seeking to make India another country altogether,” the prominent historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in the Indian newspaper The Telegraph. “It is thus that so many people from so many different walks of life have raised their voices against it.”

Guha was released from police custody after being detained for protesting against the law in the southern city of Bengaluru.

Political opposition against the law has swelled, with state leaders from regional parties vowing to prevent its implementation in their states.

The government insists the law will not be repealed.