Amid protest over citizenship law, internet suspended for 48 more hours in 10 Assam districts

Assam’s Guwahati city and Dibrugarh have been placed under indefinite curfew till further orders in the wake of protests that intensified after the passage of the Bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Suspension of mobile Internet services was extended for another 48 hours on Thursday in 10 districts of Assam due to protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

Paramilitary personnel removing the blockade after a protest against citizenship law in Guwahati on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

The mobile Internet will remain suspended for 48 hours more in the 10 districts of the state, Home Department Additional Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said.

The administration had suspended mobile Internet services for 24 hours from 7 pm on Wednesday in ten districts of the state -- Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (metro) and Kamrup.

Assam’s Guwahati city and Dibrugarh have been placed under indefinite curfew till further orders in the wake of protests that intensified after the passage of the Bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has urged people to maintain peace and asserted that the Central government was committed to implementing Clause 6 of the Assam Accord to protect the state’s cultural and linguistic identity.

Meanwhile, Assam Rifles managing the situation in the restive areas of Assam and Tripura and the prompt action by columns helped bring normalcy.