nine killed in massive india caste protests

Bid to dilute anti-discrimination law stokes tension

new delhi — Low-caste Dalits fought street battles with police on Monday that left at least nine dead as protests against a Supreme Court rights ruling swept across large swathes of India.

Protesters clashed with security forces, attacked buses and government buildings, and blocked trains and major roads. Six were reported dead in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, two in Uttar Pradesh and one in Rajasthan, police said.

Madhya Pradesh was one of the worst hit but Rishi Kumar Shukla, director general of the state police, said the protests had been brought “under control”.

A curfew was imposed in parts of Gwalior due to the unrest, said Anshuman Yadav, police inspector general for the city. The death in Uttar Pradesh was in Muzaffarnagar. “Some 30 police and about 30-35 protesters were also injured, one of them seriously,” said Praveen Kumar, the state police deputy inspector general.

Rahul Prakash, superintendent of police in Alwar in Rajasthan, said

The government is appealing against the court order but it is a responsibility of everyone including all political parties to ensure peace Rajnath Singh, Home Minister

two or three people had been hit by bullets during clashes in the city. Police added that about 20 people had been injured. Trouble was also reported in the capital New Delhi, and Punjab and Bihar states.

The Bharat Bandh — or India shutdown — protest was called by groups representing the Dalits, once condemned as the “untouchables”, who make up 200 million of India’s 1.25 billion population and are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy.

They are angry at a Supreme Court ruling that banned the automatic arrest of the accused in cases under a special law to protect marginalised groups who suffer widespread discrimination. —