NEW DELHI, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Senior politician and Chief Minister of India's eastern state West Bengal Mamata Banerjee on Thursday called for a United Nations-monitored referendum on the controversial "Citizenship (Amendment) Act" (CAA), which passed by the country's Parliament last week, triggering countrywide protests and violence.
Massive protests and intense violence were witnessed across many Indian cities throughout Thursday, including Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Varanasi, Bengaluru and Chennai, thereby throwing normal life out of gear.
The violent protests led to huge traffic jams in most cities, and delay of many flights.
Internet services were snapped in many parts of Delhi in a bid to control spread of rumours or fake news. Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Delhi on Thursday defying prohibitory orders, raising slogans against the new citizenship law.
Addressing a public gathering in West Bengal's capital city Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee said that let there be a referendum under UN supervision which would decide the fate the new citizenship law.
"The present day Centre Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi should resign if it loses the referendum," she said.
However, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar said that the CAA was an "internal matter" for India.
In response to a question over concerns raised by UNICEF over the safety of women and children amidst protests over CAA, Kumar said "It is an internal matter of India. The Act doesn't seek to strip the citizenship of any Indian citizen of any faith. It provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities already in India from three countries."
