Protest fear before PM Modi-Abe summit in Guwahati

Bandh calls and a series of protests announced against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill across the Northeast has left officials worried ahead of India-Japan summit in Guwahati, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe between December 15 to 17.

Organisations opposed to the bill have called two bandhs - one in Assam alone on Monday and another in the entire Northeast on Tuesday, while the influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has announced a slew of protest programmes across the state from December 13.

"The protests will turn vigorous if the bill is not scrapped. Be it students, youth or women, all sections of Assamese society will come out to the streets and protest against the bill," AASU general Lurinjyoti Gogoi said on Saturday evening.

Home minister Amit Shah is likely to table the bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, that seeks to allow "religious persecuted minorities" from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan such as Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Parisis and Sikhs, who had migrated till December 2014, to apply for Indian citizenship after a stay of six years.

Organisations representing indigenous communities fear that such a move would reduce ethnic communities to minorities and endanger their cultural identity. They want all foreigners, irrespective of religion, to be detected with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date.

Assam government officials, who are busy giving Guwahati a facelift for the Modi-Abe summit, expressed concern over the protest programmes, saying this could affect the Centre's initiative to project the Northeast as a destination for more investments.

"If we see torchlight protests in the middle of Guwahati frequently, which investor will come here to do business? We want to attract investors for development but there has been attempts to disturb our efforts," Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday. Sarma on Saturday inspected the work for beautification on the bank of the Brahmaputra for the two Prime Ministers' visit.

Modi and Abe are scheduled to reach Guwahati on December 15 for the summit, likely to be held at a heritage bungalow situated on the bank of the Brahmaputra, overlooking the ancient Umananda temple island in Guwahati.

Business delegates from both countries are also likely to meet in a seperate venue. The two Prime Ministers are also likely to visit Kaziranga National Park, an abode of one-horned rhinos and a Unesco World Heritage site, before visiting Manipur capital Imphal on December 17, to pay tribute in the memorials of the Japanese soliders, who had died during the World War II.