NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of demonstrators opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill poured into Assam’s streets yesterday and clashed with the police.
The state police chief has said a curfew in Guwahati that began last evening will be extended indefinitely.
The Army has been deployed in Guwahati and two more districts, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. Internet services were snapped in ten Assam districts at 7 pm last evening.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s home in Dibrugarh was attacked, and he was reported to have been stranded for some time at the Guwahati airport on his return from Tezpur. A railway station in Chabua (Dibrugarh) — the chief minister’s hometown — was set ablaze by protesters late in the night. Another station in Tinsukia district was also torched, an official said.
Student leaders claimed many demonstrators had been injured in police action in front of the secretariat. According to unofficial accounts, hundreds have been detained in Guwahati and elsewhere.
Gauhati and Dibrugarh Universities have postponed all examinations scheduled till December 14. Classes in most universities and colleges were not held as students joined the protests. Schools were open but there were hardly any ch
Prasanta Patnaik