India captain Virat Kohli on January 4th, 2020 said that it would not be responsible for him to comment on the nationwide protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as he doesn’t have total knowledge on the issue.

Speaking to the press in Guwahati on the eve of the 1st T20I between India and Sri Lanka, Kohli said that he found the city “absolutely safe”.

Assam has witnessed non-stop agitations since the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha in December 2019. Violent protests erupted in the state after the Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on December 11th, 2019.

“I do not want to be irresponsible and speak on something that I don’t have total knowledge. It’s not going to be responsible on my part to comment on it,” he told reporters.

It may be mentioned that the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) has banned carrying posters, banners and message boards inside the Barsapara Cricket Stadium for the T20I between India and Sri Lanka on January 5th, 2020.

Addressing a presser in Guwahati, Devajit Saikia, secretary, ACA, said that placards showing ‘4’ and ‘6’ too will not be allowed. “No sketch pens or marker pens will be allowed to carry. Only wallets, handbags, mobile phones and vehicle keys will be permitted inside the ground,” he said.

However, MP Gupta, Guwahati’s Commissioner of Police emphasised that the directive had nothing to do with protests over the CAA which forced the administration to impose curfew and ban internet in December last year.

Several vehicles and other public properties have been either set ablaze or ransacked during the anti-CAA movement by the protesters. Four people have been killed in police firing, while an oil tanker driver was charred to death when his vehicle was set on fire in Orang.

Photo credit: /virat.kohli