Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday faced considerable anger against him and his party, the BJP, in Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Bill. During the second day of his stay in Assam, Modi faced nude protest, a bandh and raising of black flags even as #GoBackModi became a top Twitter trend.
The state police arrested at least six members of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti on Saturday when they stripped naked in front of the state secretariat. These protesters had arrived in a car before they removed their clothes in protest against Modi’s Assam visit.
Elsewhere, protesters also waved black flags on the route, taken by Modi’s cavalcade. They chanted ‘Go Back Modi’ as they flashed black flags at him. A report by news agency PTI said that the impact of bandh was felt in the upper Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Lakhimpur and Jorhat with vehicles remaining off the road and shops and business establishments closed.
The protesters also burnt effigies of Modi as they released black balloons into the air in several parts of Assam. Modi was shown black flags even when he travelled to the airport from the state’s Raj Bhawan, residence of Governor.
Modi ji was shown black flags in Assam….#GoBackModi #CitizenshipAmendmentBill pic.twitter.com/k5eeUrxZ7A
— Moon Kalita (@MoonKalita18) February 8, 2019
Love you Assam 🙂
Black flag shown by AASU members to Modi in Assam pic.twitter.com/k5GzYWJC2e— Shafaq Khan (@onlyshafaq) February 8, 2019
Our Assam welcome Modi with Black flag#GoBackModi pic.twitter.com/Zk4pCJBqz1
— Shah Rukh Ahmed( شاه روخ اہمد) (@iamsrkahmed_) February 9, 2019
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India even if they do not possess any document. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session on 8 January and has been awaiting Rajya Sabha nod.
A famous Assamese singer Zubeen Garg had written to Assam’s BJP chief minister asking him to return votes that his party secured during the assembly polls using his song. Days later, a famous Manipuri filmmaker filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma announced that he will return his Padma Shri award in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The 15-time National Award winner Sharma announced on Sunday that he will return the fourth highest civilian honour to register his protest against the contentious Bill.
Only three years ago, the BJP had created a history when it defeated the Congress to form its first ever government in Assam. But, the saffron party’s popularity has touched an all-time low in less than three years of creating a history.