Assam Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya’s convoy chased, attacked by protesters over Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019

Amid massive protests in Assam against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, agitators on Tuesday chased and attacked Assam Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya’s convoy. The protestors also pelted stones on his convoy. In a 42-second video, a convoy consisting of five vehicles were seen being chased by a crowd on a flyover in Guwahati. The crowd were seen rushing towards the vehicles which reversed and sped away.

Massive protests broke out in the state against the CAB, which was passed in Lok Sabha on December 9, as the 11-hour North East bandh called by North East Students' Organisation (NESO) kicked off on Tuesday. The NESO bandh started at 5 AM on Tuesday and most shops, markets and other complexes in Assam are closed and fewer vehicles were plying on the roads. Sources told Zee Media that protesters are also attacking vehicles that have come out on the roads.

In two separate incidents in Chabua, OC of Chabua Police station got injured and two vehicles of security forces were damaged by protesters. Stones were pelted on a CRPF vehicle which was parked on NH37.

In another incident, stones were pelted on a gypsy of Indian Air Force. A loaded truck was also set ablaze in Assam by protesters. The truck was coming from Tinsukia and was en route Guwahati when it was set on ablaze on the NH37 near Dibrugarh University late last night. As many as 4 fire tenders managed to douse the fire at about 3.30 am.

As many as 16 left-leaning organisations -  SFI, DYFI, AIDWA, AISF, AISA and IPTA have also extended their support to Tuesday’s bandh. On Monday too, parts of Assam remained tensed with the All Koch Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU), All Assam Chutia Students’ Union and All Moran Students Union had called for a bandh.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, was passed with 311 MPs voting in its favour and 80 against. Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave a detailed explanation after the bill was tabled for discussion and said that it is a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance manifesto.

During the debate over the Bill in Lok Sabha, the Union Home Minister said that Manipur will be brought under Inner Line Permit Regime and will remain exempt from the proposed legislation. ''As per the bill, it will not be applicable to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the sixth schedule of the Constitution and in the areas covered under The Inner Line, notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. Currently, the ILP regime is applicable in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram,'' Shah said in Lok Sabha.

The Bill provides Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.