Citizenship Bill: People defy curfew in Guwahati, Army conducts flag march

Guwahati: The people defied curfew in Guwahati on Thursday morning to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as the situation remained tense throughout Assam, with the Army conducting flag march in the city.

Guwahati, the epicentre of anti-CAB protests, was placed under indefinite curfew last night while the Army was called in at four places and Assam Rifles personnel were deployed in Tripura on Wednesday as the two northeastern states plunged into chaos over the hugely emotive Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB.

All Assam Student's Union has called for a protest at 11 am in Guwahati. Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti appealed to the people to come out on the road for peaceful protest. The people were on the road in the night despite curfew.

Army conducted a flag march in the city on Thursday morning. Vehicles were stranded in various cities of Assam due to heavy blockade. Half-a dozen vehicles were burnt. The houses of BJP and AGP leaders were attacked in various parts of the state.

"Curfew is on till further orders. We are monitoring the situation very closely. So far the situation is under control," Assam Police Additional Director General (Law and Order) Mukesh Agrawal told PTI. An RSS official told PTI that the organisation's office in Dibrugarh, Sadya and Tezpur were attacked. The BJP office in Tezpur was also attacked.

Late in the night, curfew was also imposed in Dibrugarh for an indefinite period as protesters targeted the houses of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Union minister Rameswar Teli in the district. As tens of thousands of anti-CAB protesters descended on the streets of Assam on Wednesday, clashing with police and plunging the state into chaos of a magnitude unseen since the violent six-year movement by students that ended with the signing of the Assam accord, Guwahati was placed under curfew.

Assam has been on the boil ever since the CAB was tabled in Lok Sabha. The contentious Bill which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on Monday.