New Delhi, Dec 19 (EFE).- Telephone and internet services have been suspended in several parts of capital on the orders of the government of India, amid escalating protests against a contentious legal amendment seeking to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants of all predominant faiths but Muslims.

Call, messaging and internet services have been disrupted in different areas of the Indian capital until further notice as per by the instructions by the authorities, telecom operators in the area, Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, said.

"We're complying with instructions received from govt. authorities on suspending voice, SMS and data in certain areas in Delhi. Once the suspension orders are lifted, our services will be fully up and running. We're sorry about the inconvenience," Airtel informed its customers through a tweet.

The Indian company did not specify the duration of the suspension or how many areas had been affected.

A similar advisory was issued by Vodafone Idea that also reported blocking services on the government's instructions.

"As per the directive received from the government, services are stopped at few locations (of) Jamia, Saheen Bagh, Bawana, Seelampur, Jaffrabad, Mandi House and part of the walled city. As a result of this, you will not be able to use services till 1 pm at these locations," Vodafone Idea tweeted.

Most places where services have been suspended have witnessed intense protests and clashes between police and protesters for more than a week.

In some areas of the capital such as Mandi House and the historic Red Fort, demonstrations had been planned for Thursday and protesters were greeted with a strong police presence.

Meanwhile, mass demonstrations were also held in several Indian cities such as Mumbai (west), Kolkata (east) and Bengaluru (south).

The protests started last week on Monday when the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tabled an amendment to the citizenship law in parliament, seeking to regularize Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis, and Jains from neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before Dec.31, 2014.

The government of India, a country that does not have specific regulations for refugees, has justified the law by citing the need to grant asylum to minorities who have been persecuted in their respective countries.

However, it makes no mention of Muslim asylum-seekers.

The bill was passed in three days by the bicameral parliament, and was rejected by people in large parts of the country on grounds that it undermined the secular spirit of the nation and discriminated against Muslims.

The demonstrations escalated after the police in New Delhi entered a university primarily for Muslims during the weekend and cracked down on students.

In the northeastern states of India, where a strong anti-immigrant sentiment regardless of religion is known to be prevalent, strong protests have resulted in at least four deaths, forcing the authorities to impose restrictions and deploy the army on the streets. EFE

© 2019 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc., source EFE Ingles