CAA protest: Improvement in Assam situation; train services severely hit
Guwahati/UNI: The overall situation in Assam arising out of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, showed further signs of improvement with curfew in Guwahati and Dibrugarh, among other places, relaxed for several hours today, though railway traffic remained severely hit owing to the agitations and internet services continued to be suspended.
The total death toll in police firing on agitators in Guwahati on December 12 at different places reached four with two injured persons succumbing since last night.
Due to burning of railway station at Bhaluka Road (West Bengal) under Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) and damages caused to railway tracks due to blockades in Assam areas, more than 50 passenger carrying trains remained cancelled / short terminated / diverted.
All trains going from NFR towards Eastern Railway side have been cancelled due to disturbances in West Bengal and resultant damages caused to railway track, while all local passenger trains in Assam continue to remain cancelled.
Damages caused due to burning of stations are being assessed and restoration of train services will take some time, an NFR spokesperson said.
Flight operations have also been affected in Guwahati, with seven flights to and from Guwahati aiport cancelled today.
In main city Guwahati, where curfew was relaxed from 0900 hours to 1800 hours today, hundreds of people assembled at the Chandmari Field to participate in a ‘Concert for Peace and Harmony’ against CAA, organized by the artists fraternity of the state.
Popular artists, led by Zubin Garg, performed various patriotic songs and delivered speeches, with All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) leaders, among others, also attending the programme.
The Left Front parties staged a sit-in demonstration at Lakhidhar Barua Sadan in the city, protesting the CAA.
Jorhat also witnessed a congregation of artists and citizens since morning, who used songs and music to register their protest against the CAA.
Besides Guwahati and Dibrugarh town area, indefinite curfew was relaxed for several hours at Tezpur and Dhekiajuli, and at other areas of Dibrugarh district today.
Golaghat and Charaideo were under night curfew, while Jorhat has curfew clamped from 2200 hours to 0600 hours.
Army continued assisting the civil administration and police and central paramilitary forces in maintaining law and order.
No reports of any violent have been received in the last 24 hours.
Internet services remained suspended since the evening of December 11 and are likely to be restored tomorrow.
Assam has been opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to illegal Hindu, Parsi, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had entered India prior to December 31, 2014, without any documents.
People of North Eastern states, especially Assam and Tripura, are demanding its revocation as they fear being ‘overrun’ by non-Muslims from neighbouring Bangladesh.
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