Indian lawyers shout slogans as they join students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in solidarity during a protest demonstration against a new citizenship law in New Delhi, India.

Indian students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University and locals participate in a protest demonstration against a new citizenship law in New Delhi, India.

At least three people died Saturday, including an 8-year-old boy, as protests rage in India against a new citizenship law opponents say discriminates against Muslims.

The death toll is up to 21 since parliament passed the law on Dec. 11, with at least 15 killed in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, which has seen the worst violence. The boy died Friday in a stampede during a large rally in Uttar Pradesh’s city of Varanasi, Outlook India reported.

The ongoing protests are the strongest demonstration of dissidence against the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he was elected in 2014, according to the Associated Press. Opponents include state leaders of regional parties who say they will not implement the law in their states.

The law 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.

The government has said there is no chance of repeal.

More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested across India in the past 10 days amid sometimes violent demonstrations against the law, which critics say undermines the country’s secular constitution and discriminates against Muslims, Reuters reported.

Modi summoned his council of ministers on Saturday to discuss security measures. Police have already imposed a British colonial-era law banning the assembly of more than four people in some parts of the state.

On Saturday, right-wing Hindu organizations and academicians expressed support for the law. Over 1,000 professors and scholars congratulated the parliament and government for what they said was a progressive law standing up for forgotten minorities.