India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a meeting with his council of ministers on Saturday to discuss the security situation in the country following protests against a controversial citizenship law, two government sources told Reuters. 

Thousands of people joined fresh rallies in India on Saturday, with 21 killed so far in this month's unrest. The death toll jumped after demonstrations turned violent on Friday in the country's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, leaving at least 11 dead including an eight-year-old boy, who was trampled. Another protester died on Saturday after clashes in Rampur, a city also in Uttar Pradesh, as police used tear gas and batons against a stone-pelting crowd, according to AFP.

During the clashes five police officers, including three with bullet wounds, were being treated in hospital, a chief medical officer told reporters.

Friday's protests broke out across many districts in the state. Thousands of protesters stood inside and on the steps of New Delhi's Jama Masijd, one of India's largest mosques, after Friday afternoon prayers. They waved Indian flags and shouted slogans against the government and the citizenship law.

Much of the violence was in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where protesters set fire to police posts and vehicles and hurled rocks at security forces despite prohibitory orders had been imposed to prevent the demonstrators in and around the mosque from meeting up with more demonstrators about four kilometers away in central Delhi.

Most of the detentions also were in Uttar Pradesh state, where more than 100 have been arrested and 3,305 detained since Thursday.

Authorities had already taken numerous measures to contain the situation, including suspending internet access, imposing emergency laws, and shutting down shops and restaurants in sensitive pockets across the country.

The controversial citizenship law allows Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally to become citizens if they can show they were persecuted because of their religion in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, while the law does not apply to Muslims.

Opposition parties and civil society members in India criticize the law as contrary to secular principles enshrined in India's constitution as it excludes Muslims, and they have filed 60 petitions in India's top court to challenge the new law.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: Demonstrators hold the national flag of India as they attend a protest against a new citizenship law, New Delhi, India, December 20, 2019. /Reuters Photo)