Citizenship Amendment Bill: Protests in Assam amid curfew
Protesters against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by Indian parliament last night, defied curfew in Guwahati this morning while the situation remained tense across Assam.
The army in morning conducted a flag march in the biggest city of Assam and the epicenter of protests against the bill, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
In the backdrop of the rising tide of street protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he and his government were "totally committed to constitutionally safeguard the political, linguistic, cultural and land rights of Assamese people."
Vehicles were stranded in various cities of Assam due to heavy road blockades. Half-a dozen vehicles were burnt and houses of Bharatiya Janata Party and Asom Gana Parishad leaders were attacked in various parts of the state.
"Curfew is on till further orders, we are monitoring the situation very closely. The situation is under control so far," our correspondent reports quoting Assam's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mukesh Agrawal.
Late last night, curfew was imposed on Dibrugarh also as protesters targeted the houses of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Federal Minister Rameswar Teli in the district.
Guwahati was placed under indefinite curfew last night while the Army was called in at four places and Assam Rifles personnel were deployed in Tripura as the two northeastern states plunged into chaos over the Bill.
The contentious Bill which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by the Rajya Sabha last night, two days after the Lok Sabha cleared it on Monday.
All Assam Student's Union has called a protest in Guwahati for later today.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti appealed to the people to come out on the road for "peaceful" protests. The protesters were on the road last night despite curfew.
An office-bearer of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor, said the organization's office in Dibrugarh, Sadya and Tezpur were attacked. The BJP office in Tezpur was also attacked.
Seeking to assuage the concerns in Assam over the bill which critics say could threaten Assamese linguistic and cultural identity Modi tweeted this morning to assure that he and his government were "totally committed to constitutionally safeguard the political, linguistic, cultural and land rights of Assamese people."
"I want to assure my brothers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of #CAB," Modi tweeted this morning.
Modi said "No one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will continue to flourish and grow."
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by both the houses of parliament on Monday and Wednesday, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities on ground of religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
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