German Student Allegedly Told to Leave India or Face Deportation Over Anti-Citizenship Law Protests

New Delhi (Sputnik): Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests continue to rage across India, some of them turning violent and resulting in vandalism, destruction and arson. Over 20 people have died and hundreds have been injured during protests so far.

The Indian government has asked a German student pursuing his master’s course at the premier Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) in the southern city of Chennai to leave the country or face deportation after he was charged with violating visa rules by participating in the ongoing protests against the recently enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Jacob Lindenthal, a German postgraduate student of physics at IIT-Madras, left for Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, late on Monday night after immigration officials in Chennai told him that his participation in the anti-CAA protest last week was unacceptable.

Netizens shared mixed responses with some expressing dismay over the development and likening his marching orders to situations prevailing during the Nazi era of the 1930s and 1940s. 

Others, however, praised the government for taking the correct step and sending out the right message.

​Before leaving the country, Lidenthal said he had just accompanied his friends to the rallies in the city and had not expressed any opinions, and added that he would be consulting his lawyers to decide on his next course of action. He said any statements that he had made were related to the Indian Constitution.

News of Lidenthal being asked to leave Indian shores comes on a day when more anti-CAA protests are expected to take place across the country.

The new law grants citizenship to illegal immigrants from six religious minorities – Hindus, Parsis, Jains, Christians, Buddhists and Sikhs from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan if they have arrived in India before 31 December 2014.

However, it excludes Muslims immigrants, a decision viewed by many protesters as a violation of the Indian Constitution.

Sourse: sputniknews.com