India deployed troops on Saturday to quell deadly protests that have erupted in the state of West Bengal over legislation to change how Muslim-owned properties are managed. Police fired tear gas at the thousands of demonstrators who gathered on Friday in the state\u2019s Murshidabad district. Three people, including a child, were killed, police said on Saturday. \u201cSo far, 118 people have been arrested in connection with the violence,\u201d said Jawed Shamim, a senior police official in the state, adding that at least 15 police officers were injured. The state\u2019s high court ordered federal troops to deploy. The Waqf amendment bill that set off the protests was passed earlier this month after heated debate. According to the ruling Hindu nationalist government, it will boost transparency around land management by holding accountable powerful Waqf boards, which control properties gifted by Muslim charitable endowments. But the opposition has called the bill a polarising \u201cattack\u201d on India\u2019s Muslim minority. They accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to win favour with its right-wing Hindu base. After the bill\u2019s passage, Modi called it a \u201cwatershed moment\u201d. Opposition Congress Party chief Rahul Gandhi meanwhile said the bill was \u201caimed at Muslims today but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future\u201d. Modi\u2019s decade as premier has seen him cultivate an image as an aggressive champion of the country\u2019s majority Hindu faith. His government revoked the constitutional autonomy of India\u2019s Muslim-majority region Kashmir, and backed the construction of a temple on grounds where a mosque stood for centuries before it was torn down by Hindu zealots in 1992.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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