"Go to Pakistan" .. a threat to confiscate the property of Muslims protesting in India

Indian police began using facial recognition technology to examine the massive crowds protesting against the new religion-based citizenship law, while the authorities defended their repressive measures against protesting Muslims and threatened to confiscate their property.

The Indian Express newspaper reported that the Indian police began applying a technique that enables them to identify the faces of the demonstrators.

Police in the Indian capital began feeding the technology with video footage of the ongoing protests, to identify "the demonstrators who are constantly participating in the protests and mobs," according to the newspaper report.

The report comes amid widespread allegations of police brutality during the demonstrations in India, in which at least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded.

The Indian Express report raises fears that the country is using the police to prevent democratic protests against a law that allows non-Muslims from three neighboring countries to obtain Indian citizenship.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh has rejected accusations from rights groups that the police committed violations during protests against the nationality law, stressing that it was his strictness that restored the street.

The state witnessed the most violent unrest because of the nationality law issued by the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and activists say it discriminates against Muslims, who make up about 14% of the population of India.

Threat of confiscation of property
Uttar Pradesh is India's largest by population, with 19 people killed since the protests began weeks ago, and victims in other states, bringing the death toll to 25.

Clashes in the state appeared to have calmed down over the past week, but limited-scale demonstrations were still taking place on its streets.

The state's prime minister, Yuji Adityanath, a Hindu priest, said it was his tough policies that ended the unrest. "Do whatever you want, but the damage will be paid for by those who caused it," he said.

His government announced last week that it was demanding more than two hundred million rupees to compensate for the material damage caused to the state during the protests, and threatened to confiscate their property.

Exciting video
Human rights groups have denounced what they describe as mass arrests and the use of excessive force in the state where the authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people.

The Indian government says that the law will not affect any citizen of the country, and that it has no immediate plans to launch a record of citizenship at the country level.

But a video posted on social media sites added to the concerns of those worried about the situation of Muslims in India, as a senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh state shows one of the demonstrators saying, "Go to Pakistan if you don't want to live here."

The officer told Reuters today, Saturday, that some protesters chanted slogans loyal to Pakistan, adding, "In this particular situation, I told them to go to Pakistan."

Opposition Congress officials are expected to lead protests later, under the slogan "Save the constitution ... save India."