Friday, April 19, 2024
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Indefinite curfew in Guwahati, Army deployed

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GUWAHATI/AGARTALA: Guwahati, the epicentre of anti-CAB protests, was placed under indefinite curfew and Army was deployed in the city and Assam Rifles personnel were deployed in Tripura on Wednesday as the two Northeastern states plunged into chaos over the hugely emotive Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, officials said.
Army PRO Lt Col P Khongsai said two Army columns have been deployed in Guwahati and are carrying out flag marches. Reports from Tinsukia quoting officials said the Army has been deployed in the district and was carrying out flag marches.
A Defence spokesman in Shillong said that said that troops of the Assam Rifles were pressed into service in Tripura.
Internet services have been suspended in 10 districts of Assam, beginning 7 pm on Wednesday, as massive protests raged across cities, to prevent “misuse” of social media to disturb peace and tranquility and maintain law and order.
As tens of thousands of anti-CAB protesters descended on the streets of Assam on Wednesday, clashing with police and plunging the state into chaos of a magnitude unseen since the violent 6-year movement by students that ended with the signing of the Assam accord, Guwahati was placed under indefinite curfew from 6:15 pm on Wednesday.
However, defying the curfew order protesters were still on the streets of Guwahati where most arterial roads were blocked.
The Congress party has, meanwhile, called a shutdown in Tripura on Thursday.
Though no party or student body had called a shutdown in Assam, protesters, a majority of them students, fought pitched battles with security forces, including in front of the secretariat, the seat of the BJP government.
Similar incidents were reported from Tripura capital Agartala.
Police opened fire in Assam capital Dispur to quell a protest by the agitators after water cannons, baton-charge and tear gas failed to rein them in. A large number of agitated students blocked the road near the secretariat complex and pulled down the barricade erected on the arterial G S Road, provoking police action.
Police burst teargas shells and baton-charged the protesters, who were seen lobbing back the shells at men in uniform. They also damaged a stage erected on the road for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed summit meeting with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Sunday.
The agitators pulled down hoardings and banners advertising the government’s welfare schemes and made a bonfire of those before the secretariat, in scenes reminiscent of the 6-year movement by students against illegal settlers that ended with the signing of the Assam accord in 1985.
In a rare show of solidarity with the protesters, government employees at the secretariat wore ‘gamosa’, the state’s symbol of honour, and stood behind the gates and chanted slogans against the CAB. The Assam Secretariat Employees’ Association also issued a statement supporting the protests and opposing the CAB.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was reported to have been stranded for some time at the Guwahati airport on his return from Tezpur because of the agitation. Protesters blocked almost every road in Guwahati and state capital Dispur by placing burning discarded tyres, leaving officegoers stranded.
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) of Akhil Gogoi has called a ‘hartal’ to protest against the controversial bill until it is withdrawn.
Anti-CAB agitators also clashed with police in Dibrugarh where rubber bullets and tear gas shells were fired to break up protests.
In view of the protests, the Northeast Frontier Railway has cancelled many trains and rescheduled some that originate from the state.
At least 14 trains have either been cancelled, short terminated or diverted anticipating “disruptions in train movement,” NF Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Subhanan Chanda said in a statement. (PTI)

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