Guwahati police lathi-charge students opposing CAB

A large number of college and university students blocked a busy road here on Wednesday to protest the Centre's Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, prompting police to lathi-charge and fire tear gas shells to disperse them.

The protest broke out almost at a time when Home Minister Amit Shah tabled the Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

The students from several colleges including the century-old Cotton University tried to march towards the state secretariat complex at Dispur when police stopped them. Students from Handique Girls' College were also part of the protest march.

At least two TV journalists were hurt in the police lathi-charge.

The Bill that seeks to allow non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who had migrated due to "religious persecution" till December 2014 to apply for Indian citizenship was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday night despite long protests across the region.

Life in most parts of the Northeast was hit by two consecutive bandhs on Sunday and Monday.

Organisations said the entire Northeast is against the Citizenship Amendment Bill as it will allow a large number of illegal migrants to become citizens and reduce the indigenous people into minorities in their own land. "Despite protests, the Centre passed it in the Lok Sabha showing its disregard for the indigenous people. But we will continue to fight against it together," said a statement issued by North East Students' Union (NESO), which called the bandh.

The protesters did not relent despite Home Minister Amit Shah's promise of "adequate steps" to protect interests of the indigenous communities. Many called Shah's promise as tactics of divide and rule policy.

The All Assam Students' Union said the Bill violates the Assam Accord of 1985, which promised to detect and deport all post-1971 migrants, irrespective of religion. They want all foreigners, irrespective of religion must be detected based on March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date.