BJP RS MP calls for high-level inquiry over rumours inciting unrest in Assam

As protests against Citizenship Amendment Bill continue in Assam and in the North-East, BJP Rajya Sabha lawmaker from Assam Kamakhya Prasad Tasa on Thursday called for a high-level inquiry over rumours inciting unrest in the state.

"Who is spreading rumours that all Bangladeshis will come inside (to Assam)? Who are those visiting houses and provoking people to do protests? So, we demand a high-level inquiry in this regard. We will request the Home Minister to make some arrangements to quell such rumours as this is going in the direction of communal riots," Tasa told ANI.

He said that the party's stand over the Bill has been clear since the beginning that Indian citizenship will be granted to religiously persecuted refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

"I don't blame the people who are protesting. Someone has said Assam will be finished, which will definitely provoke them. But, who is provoking them, we need to see," Tusa stressed.

Calling Shah a "strong" Home Minister, the BJP lawmaker said there is a pre-planned conspiracy to spread rumours inciting unrest in the North-East.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have been strongly backing the North-East. As a matter of fact, ever since Modi Ji became the Prime Minister, he has been visiting the North-East. Likewise, BJP leaders including Rajnath Ji, Gadkari Ji have been touring the region," Tusa said.

"There is a pre-planned conspiracy to spread rumours there. We will come to know who is provoking the people after the high-level inquiry is done," he added.

In Assam, Guwahati city and Dibrugarh district have been placed under indefinite curfew till further orders in the wake of protests after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The administration had suspended mobile Internet services for 24 hours from 7 pm on Wednesday in ten districts of the state -- Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (metro) and Kamrup.

Amid the unrest in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet earlier today assured the people of the state that "no one can take away their rights, unique identity and beautiful culture".

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 sailed through the Parliament after Rajya Sabha passed it on Wednesday. As many as 125 members of the Upper House voted in favour while 105 MPs voted against the Bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha earlier this week.

The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.