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Citizenship bill protests: Army in Tripura, no internet in 10 Assam districts
The Army said two columns have been deployed in Tripura -- in General Area Kanchanpur and in General Area Manu while a third column has been kept on standby for deployment at Bongaigaon in Assam, according to ANI.
The civil administration has requisitioned three army columns to quell mass protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Tripura and Assam and suspended mobile internet services in ten districts in Assam for 24 hours from 7 pm Wednesday.
The Army said two columns have been deployed in Tripura -- in General Area Kanchanpur and in General Area Manu while a third column has been kept on standby for deployment at Bongaigaon in Assam.
The approximate strength of one column is about 70 personnel.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim refugees who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.
In Assam, thousands of protesters against CAB appeared on the streets at different places and clashed with police as the state descended further into chaos, the scale of which has not been seen since the six-year movement by students against illegal immigration ended with the signing of the Assam accord.
No party or student body has called a shutdown but protesters fought pitched battles with security forces across the state including in front of the secretariat. By the evening, the government announced that it was suspending mobile internet services in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup districts for 24 hours till 7 pm Thursday.
Several protesters told television channels that many agitators were injured in police action in front of the secretariat in Guwahati. Protesters pulled down barricades on the arterial Guwahati-Shillong Road, drawing police action who used tear gas shells and baton-charged the protesters.
Protesters also damaged a stage erected on the road for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed summit meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Sunday and pulled down hoardings and banners advertising the government’s welfare schemes and made a bonfire of those before the secretariat.
Anti-CAB protesters also clashed with police in Dibrugarh where rubber bullets and tear gas shells were fired to break up protests.
Protests also rocked Jorhat, Golaghat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Bongaigaon, Nagaon, Sonitpur and many other districts since morning.
A motorcycle rally was organised against the CAB in Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s hometown Chabua.
The protests also hit academics with the Gauhati University, Cotton University and Dibrugarh University postponing examinations scheduled for Wednesday.
(With PTI inputs)
