11:07 a.m. ET, December 19, 2019
Opposition parties take aim at India's government
Opposition parties criticized the Indian government on Thursday as protestors defied bans on assembly and the country experienced internet blackouts.
Rahul Gandhi, a leading figure of the main opposition Congress Party, called reports of telecoms blackouts an "insult to India's soul."
In a press conference earlier in the day, senior Congress party leader Abhishek Singhvi, said, “you have redefined the definition of normalcy, the J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) definition of normalcy now prevails in the rest of the country," he said in reference to a media blackout in the disputed region.
"This is an uncaring and unthinking government,” he added.
Derek O’Brien, senior leader of West Bengal state’s ruling All India Trinamool Congress party, tweeted a new profile photo of him wearing a shirt.
The shirt said, "no CAB no NRC," in reference to the citizenship bill (CAB) and a national register of citizens (NRC) Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has
repeatedly promised to implement across the country.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) tweeted images of the protests happening in the West Bengal's capital Kolkata, the southern state of Tamil Nadu and the northern city of Lucknow.