Upper Assam Continues to Burn Over Citizenship Amendment Act

Dibrugarh, December 14, 2019:

Upper Assam continues to burn in protests in the aftermath of the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha. According to reports, Chabua town in Dibrugarh saw a night of violent protests on December 13.

A source told Inside Northeast, “The Railway Station, UBI bank, SDC Office, Post Office, and Town Government Office have all been burned down by the protesters. Not only this, the house of the local MLA, Binod Hazarika, was also torched by the agitators in resentment over the controversial legislation.”

However, the source has informed that the situation is slowly returning to normal in the area.

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Duliajan too has been paralyzed due to the mass movements against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. According to reports, the Oil India Limited (OIL) in the town, has been lying defunct since the last 6 days. The Assam Gas Company, NEEPCO, BNBL, Namrup Fertilizer Company, BCPL, and all the tea estates have also ceased operations due to the unrest over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Meanwhile, the protests continue in several parts of the State. In Jorhat, for instance, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) are staging a protest demanding the immediate scrapping of the CAB. In other towns – such as Lakhimpur and Jorhat – locals are staging sit-in demonstrations to protest against the Bill.

In Guwahati city, which became the epicenter in the mass protests against the Bill, curfew was lifted from 9 am in the morning to 4 pm in the evening, and the residents of the city could be finally seen resuming their lives, and shops were re-opened and vehicular movement was resumed.

The protests have been diffused somewhat by the imposition of curfew and the snapping of mobile internet services, due to which life had come to a standstill in the State. Police have stated that no acts of violence have been reported since yesterday.

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