Citizenship (Amendment) Bill: Protests in North-East, 3 Army columns requisitioned

In the wake of protests in the North-East over The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, three Army columns have been put in Tripura and Assam.

Two columns have been deployed in Tripura and the third one in Assam is on standby.

Protesters in Dispur torched a bus while agitating against the Bill.

Students of Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad today agitated against The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and National Register of Citizens (NRC) on NH-2 by blocking the road at Kalla area in Asansol. They blocked the NH-2 and started agitating which caused traffic problem. Later officials from Asansol North Police Station managed to clear the road blockade.

In Karnataka, the Pradesh Congress Committee held protest against the Bill in front of its office in Bengaluru. Present were KPCC president Eshwar Khandre, V S Ugrappa, former MP, and party workers.

Protest is going on in Guwahati as police used tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.

Ten companies of the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) have been moved back from Jammu and Kashmir to Assam.

The Assam Police on Wednesday resorted to lathi-charge on protesters in Dibrugarh city while they were demonstrating against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes in the Lok Sabha where 391 members were present and voting.

The Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha by Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday.

It seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.