Army On Standby, Assam Burns As Anti-CAB Violence Rages

T8 Digital Desk
December 11, 2019
5:44 pm

A day after total shutdown, tens of thousands of protesters against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 descended on the streets of Assam on December 11th,2019

Assam is witnessing non-stop violence, both during day and night, against the Bill. The agitators broke barricades and clashed with the police at several places in the state.

In Guwahati, students clashed with police in front of the Janata Bhawan, the seat of the BJP government. Police under water canons, fired teargas shells and baton-charged protesters, who fought back.

Agitators torched, vandalised vehicles in Guwahati. The jittery shopkeepers were seen pulling down shutters within a matter of minutes and rushing to the safety of their homes. Vehicles vanished from the busy city streets as protestors burnt tyres, banners and posters on the roads.

The Assam government will suspend Internet services from 7 pm on December 11th, 2019 to 7 pm of December 12th, 2019 in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup districts of the state.

The protest of this magnitude in the state unseen since the violent six-year movement by students that ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985. Police fired teargas shells and baton-charged protesters, who fought back.

Meanwhile, security deployments have increased in many places including Guwahati following the violent protests.

On the other hand, the civil administration has requested its assistance in maintaining law and order situation in Assam and Tripura. “Three Army columns requisitioned by civil administration so far in Tripura and Assam. Two (Tripura) are deployed and third (Assam) is standby,” the Army statement said. The approx strength of one column is about 70 personnel all ranks. Field Commanders and Army HQ monitoring the situation closely.

The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to the people belonging to the Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis who have become the victims of religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and entered India on or before December 31st, 2014.

The agitators said that the Bill nullifies the Assam Accord which has fixed March 24th, 1971 as the cut-off to identify illegal foreigners.