After passing the scrutiny of both Lok Sabha – with 311 Ayes and 80 Nos – and Rajya Sabha – with 125 votes in favour of the same, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has now received a positive nod from the President. Thus, the bill is officially an Act now.
The Act now gives non-Muslims communities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan the right to seek Indian citizenship.
Well, that’s for the moment, however, with the passage of CAB, situations have got tensed in several parts of the country, especially Assam. The northeastern state has been protesting against the bill for several days.
The situations during the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha bill-discussion meet got so tensed that curfew had to be imposed in the sate.
Notably, people in Assam argue that CAB is against Assam Accord of 1985 that focus on the deportation of illegal foreign (Bangladeshi) immigrants.
A Timeline of Events
After the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, people in Assam barged on roads to protest against the same. People blocked roads, held rallies, torched vehicles and even set a BJP leaders’ house on fire.
Major events like the Ranji Trophy match in Guhwati, train and flight services have to be suspended as the protest turned violent. People also burned a temporary stage and a billboard meant for Modi-Abe meet in Guwahati.
Protest intensified on December 11 when the bill reached Rajya Sabha. While staging the protest as many as 35 people got injured and 2 were reported dead. The police reportedly responded with firing rubber bullets and blank fire, until finally, Section 144 had to be imposed.
To control the situation over 5,000 paramilitary forces were also airlifted from parts of Jammu and Kashmir and other states.
Eyeing the protest doesn’t seem to plunge, the Government had to cut internet facility in the state besides imposing indefinite curfew in Guwahati
The government also released an advisory requesting broadcasters to not telecast content that could add fuel to the protests.
The police also opened fire at Lalung Gaon area and lathi-charged the crowd, after protesters started pelting stones at Army personnels.
Protests continued as MLA Binod Hazarika’s residence was set ablaze. Police chief Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta’s convoy was also attacked with stones.
Transportation facilities including Air transportation have been hit amid the protests. Airlines have canceled flights with people, including tourists, stuck in the sate.
As of now, the curfew has been relaxed in Guwahati and Dibrugarh, till 1 pm.
