After the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha, Assam’s situation is similar to that of Jammu and Kashmir, with a curfew imposed, suspended internet and telecom services in the State and people protesting on roads.
After the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed with a majority of 125 votes in the Rajya Sabha on the 11th of December, students, activists, writers, actors, musicians and citizens of Assam came together and shouted slogans against the Bill.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 promises citizenship to refugees who are Sikhs, Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and are living in India since or before the 31st of December 2014.
Despite certain areas in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, almost the whole of Meghalaya and parts of Assam and Tripura being excluded from the Bill, protests are going on in Assam, especially in Brahmaputra Valley and Tripura.
The biggest fear of the Assamese is if the Bengali Hindus and Bengali Muslims flee to Assam and dominate, the percentage of Assamese would reduce whereas, the population of Bengali speaking people would increase. They are afraid if Bangla speakers are in Assam or any northeastern states, they could easily affect the percentage of Assamese speaking people. The fear originates from the fact a similar situation arose in Tripura in the past.
In Tripura, Bengali Hindus coming from East Bengal hold the political power, affecting the original tribals and minorities in the State.
In Tripura, people went on an indefinite strike on the 11th of December. However, they called off the strike after Biplab Kumar Deb, the Chief Minister of Tripura, assured them a meeting with Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, would be held.
The citizens of Tripura and students’ bodies desired to meet Amit Shah and share all the concerns of the Assamese in the State.
Meanwhile, the Assam Police deployed police personnel in 10 districts of Assam and imposed an indefinite curfew to control the situation.
Stay tuned for further updates.
