As deadly protests grow in India, many fear democracy is being eroded

The protests in India against a controversial new citizenship law continued escalating Thursday, CBS news reported.

The crisis could become a watershed moment in the history of the world's largest democracy. Unrest has erupted in cities and towns across this vast nation since the government brought in the new law which, for the first time in India's 70 years of democracy, singles out people of one faith.

Critics, from constitutional scholars to politicians, historians and Bollywood stars, have derided the legislation as unconstitutional and anti-Muslim, and next month India's Supreme Court will take up a legal challenge against it. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) paves the way for illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to become citizens, unless they are Muslim.

At least eight people have died, hundreds have been injured and several hundred more detained — including some prominent figures — as the protests have spread across this South Asian nation of more than 1.3 billion people. As the unrest escalated, the government banned large gatherings in parts of Delhi on Thursday, and in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, where the technology hub of Bengaluru is located.