Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill spiralled out of control in BJP-ruled Assam after two protesters were killed in the firing by security forces. Thousands of people have taken to streets in defiance of the government’s decision to impose curfew in the state. Protesters have targeted the homes of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister Rameswar Teli and BJP MLA Binanda Hazarika in the last few days.
The state administration has suspended the internet services in at least 10 districts of Assam. The government on Thursday extended the ban by another 48 hours. The government has also deployed the army in those areas where protesters had clashed with police personnel. According to news agency PTI, troops have also been deployed in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Jorhat districts.
There were also reports of an indefinite curfew being imposed in Shillong from 10 PM on Thursday night.
Elsewhere, Indiatimes news portal, a website owned by Times of India group, reported that at least eight natives were killed by Bengali migrants in BJP-ruled Tripura. It later ran a correction saying that ‘while the clashes are still going on in Tripura, the number of casualties, if any, could not be confirmed. We could not get any official confirmation on the number of those killed in the violence. We will update the copy once we get more details.’
8 #Indigenous people killed in #Tripura after #CitizenshipAmendmentBill passed. Is this what #India wants? @PMOIndia @AmitShah @antonioguterres @mbachelet @UNSR_VickyTauli @AgnesCallamard @davidakaye https://t.co/5J1QecZM3q
— Binalakshmi Nepram (@BinaNepram) December 12, 2019
This prompted a desperate appeal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took to Twitter to issue an urgent plea. But, it seems there were few takers to his appeal.
Several flights to and from Dibrugarh in Assam have been cancelled. The carriers that have announced the cancellation of their flights include SpiceJet IndiGo, Vistara and GoAir.
The Indian parliament passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill earlier this week. The Bill provides automatic citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants living in India.