Anti-Citizenship Bill protests rage across Assam

Two protesters succumbed to bullet injuries at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in Guwahati of India's Assam amid heavy anti-Citizenship Amendment Bill protests. Officials confirmed both of them were shot at, in two separate parts of the city, reports Indian Express.

Meanwhile, protests rage on in Assam for the second day Thursday against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 11. While mobile internet services remain suspended in 10 districts of Assam, Guwahati, the epicentre of the protests, is under indefinite curfew. Army has been deployed in Assam and Tripura, and railway and air traffic are severely hit.

On Thursday, Assam BJP MLA Binod Hazarika’s house was set ablaze by protesters in Chabua, PTI reported. The protesters also burned down a circle office, according to PTI, even as Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal appealed for peace and urged people to “not get misled” on the Bill. In Guwahati’s Lalung Gaon, police opened fire at protesters, injuring at least four people.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen, who was to land in India Thursday for a three-day visit, has cancelled his trip. However, Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said Momen’s decision was not because of the protests.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians — it leaves out Muslims — who entered the country from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan by December 31, 2014. In the Northeast, there are fears that giving citizenship to refugees will dilute the local language and culture. While most Northeastern states are exempt from the Citizenship Amendment Bill due to the Inner Line Permit System and/or the sixth Schedule of the Constitution, Assam, and parts of Tripura, are protected by neither.

Assam, which has a porous border with Bangladesh, has long fought against the influx of Bangladeshi migrants.