Students group starts 6-hour Nagaland shutdown against Citizenship Act

Clearance of Citizenship Bill triggered widespread protests in eastern state of Assam, as protesters said it would convert thousands of illegal immigrants into legal residents.

A students' group on Saturday began a six-hour shutdown in Nagaland to press for the repeal of an amended law on granting citizenship, joining widespread protests in the Northeast.

The bandh or shutdown will begin at 6am to express the resentment of the Naga people against the passing of the contentious CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill) in the Parliament, much against the interests and the sentiments of the Indigenous (sic) people in the North East states," said the Nagaland Students Federation (NSF) in a statement in Kohima, according to news agency PTI.

NSF said students appearing for examination, healthcare professionals on duty, media personnel and marriage parties, provided the wedding card is produced, will be exempted from the proposed total bandh. 

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill grants citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan prior to 2015 has led to violent demonstrations.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the citizenship bill late on Thursday, signing it into law.

Clearance of the Bill triggered widespread protests in eastern state of Assam, as protesters said it would convert thousands of illegal immigrants into legal residents.