Indefinite curfew imposed in Guwahati, violent protests in Assam over Citizenship Amendment Bill

As the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, an indefinite curfew was imposed in the city of Guwahati in Assam. The curfew was earlier imposed with a timeframe of 6:15 PM on Wednesday to 7 AM on Thursday. It has now been extended to an indefinite period. According to Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the curfew will remain imposed until normalcy is imposed.

The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has announced a shutdown in Assam on Thursday. A bus was torched by protesters, near Janta Bhawan in Dispur. Two columns of Army which were on standby at Bongaigaon and Dibrugarh have been rushed to Guwahati after the situation escalated. Both the columns have been deployed in Guwahati.

Several organisations have also called for 'Rail Roko', a shutdown of train services, on account of which Indian Railways has cancelled around 12 trains and partially cancelled 10 trains on December 12-13 in the Tinsukia division and Lumding division in Assam. The Dibrugarh District Magistrate, for 'preservation of public peace and tranquillity', has also ordered the closure of liquor-licensed premises.

The state government has already suspended internet services for the next 24 hours, starting from 7 pm on Wednesday. The ban is being imposed over 10 districts of Assam, including Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup. Meanwhile, curfew has been imposed in Guwahati after massive protests triggered at several places in the city.

As massive protests have erupted across Assam against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, state chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal was left stranded at Guwahati airport for hours on Wednesday.

Sonowal, who landed at Guwahati from Tezpur, was stuck as the protesters gathered outside the airport.

Earlier in the day, as the protests turned violent, Assam Police had to resort to lathi-charge in Dibrugarh. The action was taken as despite a warning, the protesters blocked an ambulance.

The central government has already ordered the induction of ten companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel to the state of Assam, in view of the rising unrest in the region against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). The paramilitary forces are to be transferred from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), where the law and order situation, according to the Centre, has improved by now.

Massive protests erupted in Assam after Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 was passed in Lok Sabha on late Monday night with 311 MPs voting in favour and 80 against it.

The protests are being carried out by All Assam Students' Union (AASU) in Dibrugarh and North East Students' Organisation (NESO) which also called for a 12-hour bandh in Guwahati.

After hours of debate and high drama, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, two days after it was passed in the Lok Sabha on late Monday night. The Bill was introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who point by point explained and exerted upon the importance of the Bill and its requirement in the country.

Several members of the opposition said that Bill was against the minorities, however, rebutting to opposition's claim, Home Minister Amit Shah said that it was not against the minorities and nighter it was a political move.

The Bill proposes to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955. It was discussed amid huge uproar from Opposition parties and protests in northeast states.