Guwahati, Jan 9 (UNI) Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill,
2016, reached the threshold of Assam's power seat Dispur today, while
students also joined the bandwagon of protestors by announcing indefinite
boycott of classes as mark of protest.
Over a hundred activists of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and
a conglomerate of 70 organizations staged a protest in front of the state
secretariat at Dispur.
As the protestors breached the first police barricade, police used baton
charge to disperse them and arrested several protestors.
An unruly situation prevailed in the capital area for over an hour as the
protestors ran around to evade arrest, with the police in close heels.
Protests by other organizations were also staged in other parts of the
state, including at Dhemaji, Sivsagar and Golaghat.
Meanwhile, students of different varsities and colleges of the state also
joined the protests.
The students’ union of Cotton University has decided to indefinitely
boycott classes, till the Bill is scrapped.
A section of the students also sat on a hunger strike as a mark of protest.
The Pub-Kamrup College Students’ Union has also decided to boycott
classes for an indefinite period till the Bill is withdrawn.
A similar step has also been taken by the students’ union of Margherita
College and students have refrained from attending classes.
The students’ union of Handique Girls College, Guwahati, has adopted
a resolution protesting the Bill.
Students from Assam studying in various colleges under Delhi University
and other varsities in the national capital also staged a protest there today
against the Bill.
The protest is against The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, passed
in the Lok Sabha yesterday, seeking to provide Indian nationality to Hindus,
Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists and Jains from Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India.
UNI SG BM