Vehicle set on fire as protests against Citizenship Amendment Bill in Assam turn violent

Massive protests broke out in Assam on Tuesday against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as the 11-hour North East bandh called by North East Students' Organisation (NESO) kicked off.

Massive protests broke out in Assam on Tuesday (December 10) against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday (December 9), as the 11-hour North East bandh called by North East Students' Organisation (NESO) kicked off.

The NESO bandh started at 5 AM on Tuesday will be observed till PM. Most shops, markets and other complexes in Assam are closed since 5 AM 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 at  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 enroute 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 3.30am.

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.