While hundreds of commuters were stranded at Guwahati airport due to the shutdown call, the commercial institutions and shops in main markets of the capital city remained closed due to the protest called by student bodies.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Bandh called by student bodies in Assam was observed across the state
- Protesters blocked state and national highways as shops remained shut for 11 hours
- The student bodies were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Bill
The Northeast Students’ Organisation (NESO), backed by various other bodies and political parties, observed the shutdown till 5 pm against the bill. While hundreds of commuters were stranded at Guwahati airport due to the shutdown call, the commercial institutions and shops in the main markets of the capital city remained closed due to the protest called by student bodies.
To prevent any untoward incident, the Assam administration had imposed Section 144 in several districts, including Sonitpur, Lakhimpur and Tinsukia. Due to the shutdown call, the exams in Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University in the state have been postponed.
The Assamese artist Barkha Rani and Utpal Das also participated in the protest.
Locals in the protest told India Today TV that the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 will undermine the Assamese identity and demography will be subverted by the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
The amendment bill seeks to give relief to illegal non-Muslims who migrated to Assam as well as the rest of India.
“We are opposing the Citizenship Amendment Bill as it will grant citizenship to all the Bangladeshi immigrants. Our population is already exceeding 3 crores and 2 crores more Bangladeshi will settle down here who will take away our jobs,” Tappan Mehenta – a protestor said.
Raghav Gogoi, another protester, said, “We brought BJP government in Assam but Saravanan Saonwal-led BJP government in the state has backstabbed us. Gogoi said, “They carried out NRC to filter illegal immigrants and we supported, but now they are bringing Citizenship Amendment Bill to increase their vote bank in Assam. They are not thinking about us, where will we go? Our life is already under threat, we have to live in the hilly areas or at the banks of Brahmaputra, which is being washed away every year in the flood.”
Many protesters were detained by the police as they blocked state and national highways. The protestors, however, did not obstruct the emergency vehicles like ambulance and fire brigade and allowed them safe passage through their protest march.
Multiple stretches the protesters burned tyres to block roads. Even the city police chief faced the heat. Guwahati police commissioner Deepak Kumar was gheraod by the agitators in the main town while he was passing through to assess the law and order situation of the protest called by youth bodies.
Prasanta Patnaik