Eight people have died amid violent protests involving tens of thousands of protesters from the Dalit (formerly untouchable) community across India. They have taken to the streets to protest against a Supreme Court order that they say weakens a law designed to protect lower caste communities. Train services have been affected and some main roads have been blocked in a number of states. The federal government has asked the court to review its decision. In its ruling, the court had said that the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, popularly known as the SC/ST Act, had been "misused" in the past. Caste violence continues to be a problem in the country. More than 40,000 crimes against lower castes were reported in 2016 alone, according to official statistics...

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