#CAB
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SPECIAL
INSIDE
Volume 07 | Issue 08 Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019 Price `10 Anti-CAB protests leaves Guwahati devastated; public property takes the biggest hit
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#NoCAB: A photo story with captions on the last 3 days
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Citizens defy curfew clampdown to register protest at Latasil Field
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CAB burns Assam
State seeks a soothing balm
For this calm that has descended and for the same to continue and assuage the ‘hurt’ felt by the Assamese, mere promises will not help and if the tweets and assurances from none other than PM Modi are any indication, some measures may have to be announced sooner than later.
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#CAB
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
CAB burns Assam
State seeks a soothing balm For this calm that has descended and for the same to continue and assuage the ‘hurt’ felt by the Assamese, mere promises will not help and if the tweets and assurances from none other than PM Modi are any indication, some measures may have to be announced sooner than later. G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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leaderless agitation always has a short shelf life because lumpen elements take over the reign, create mayhem on the streets allowing the Government machinery to use force and at the end, it just simply fizzles out either due to the fatigue setting in or the protesters getting “betrayed” by someone or the other. At the time of going to the press, it is difficult to say whether this agitation over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 has fizzled out since the curfew imposed at various places in Assam, including the capital city of Guwahati, continues but early indications point towards normalcy returning to the disturbed areas albeit slowly and with some organisations declaring a legal battle to be fought in the courts, the street demonstrations will be far and few in between. The simmering tensions will remain until the government offers some tangible solutions to the vexed problems relating to the “identity” of Assamese and protection of Assamese culture and heritage. But for three days, Guwahati and other regions of Assam bore resemblance to many disturbed
and everything they perceived as representative of government machinery, torching vehicles and targeting BJP workers, basically venting frustrations and anger at a supposed “betrayal” by a government voted to power by them as recently as April/ May, 2019. In all these, the administration, for two days, had either no clue of the happenings on the ground or didn’t dare to touch a vote bank comprising primarily of Hindu Assamese who overwhelmingly backed the BJP in all elections in the state since 2014. And in this melee, the alliance partners were nowhere to be seen, be it the AGP, which fleetingly tried to confuse everyone with the talk in Rajya Sabha but not really walking that talk at the end when it came to voting against the Bill or the BPF, which simply sided with the ruling party since areas falling under BTAD were exempted from the applications of the Act. With appeals for calm by the incumbent chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, and leaders of organisations who tried to steer the agitation and a firm dealing by the security forces on the evening of 12th December, there has been relative calm in the disturbed areas. But for this calm to continue and assuage the “hurt” felt by the Assamese, mere promises will not help and if the tweets
that this government, whether at the Centre or the state, have only worked for the protection of indigenous people of Assam and in other words, the Jati
(Race), Mati (land) and Bheti (foundation) will be protected at any cost. What could be the possible
Carnage below Ganeshguri flyover, a burnt generator | G Plus photo hot spots of the world with pitched battles being fought between primarily the young agitators and the security forces resulting in 3 deaths in Guwahati due to firing by security forces. Agitators tore down anything
and assurances from none other than Prime Minister Modi are any indication, some measures, both tangible and intangible, may have to be announced sooner than later seeking to buttress the oftrepeated slogans of BJP leaders
tangible and intangible measures the government in Delhi may resort to in the next few days? These measures, if and when announced, would in fact be the cornerstone of the implementation of the Clause 6 of
the Assam Accord. One tangible measure could be the granting of Scheduled Tribe status to the six
communities of Assam, the majority of whom are considered to be at the forefront of this agitation. Granting of ST status has been a long standing demand of these communities and has found mention in the poll manifestoes of all major political parties prior to every major election in the state since a long time. With the speed the CAB was introduced and converted into an Act by the BJP government at the centre citing its promise in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll manifesto, any delay in granting ST status to the six communities in Assam would be considered as another betrayal by the party to the people of Assam and in fact, its implementation on the other hand, may take a bite of the agitation and lower the simmering tension with respect to CAA. Linked to granting ST status to the six communities would be the reservation of assembly and parliamentary seats in favour of indigenous communities, which would require a longer time frame to be implemented. The inherent message in this measure would be that the political control would always be in the hands of the indigenous communities if a chunk comprising at least 70 to
75% of the total seats are reserved for them and the perceived threat from the Hindu Bengalis would not materialise. Not only the Hindu Bengalis, this measure would be touted as the effective tool to blunt the perceived threat from the Bengali Muslims as well thereby giving the BJP the upper hand in explaining to the
Assamese that the BJP is the only party which has sought to protect the Jati, Mati and Bheti for them. However, more difficult would be to assuage the feelings of the indigenous people of Assam about the perceived threat to the Assamese language since lakhs of Hindu Bengalis with Bangla as their mother tongue will be granted citizenship through this Citizenship Amendment Act. With some sections of the Bengalis preferring an aggressive posture with respect to the stature of the Bangla language in the state of Assam, this granting of citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshis assume significance and the government and the BJP will have a task at hand to explain to the Assamese population that protection of Assamese language as the state language irrespective of the number of people speaking it would be its priority. This intangibility would be at the heart of any solution brought on the table by the government. Any move towards giving permanency to Assamese language as the state language may lead to counter movements by Bengali speaking populace and unless this issue is solved at the earliest, any solution offered by the centre may pale in significance and all gains would be lost to BJP.
#CAB
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
Who is fuelling violence in protests? and threatened the other business establishments. “No one was looking like a student and all of them were mostly drunk,” said a street roperty worth crores of rupees vendor Kamen Das who has were destroyed by protestors been vending at Fancy Bazar across Assam – either gutted since the last 20 years. or broken - during the protests Newly appointed ADGP which submerged the state (Law & Order) GP Singh, post the clearance of the Citizenship talking to media, said that (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha and many incidents are recorded the Rajya Sabha. The protests were no on camera and after the doubt for a cause carried out by students situation eases, the violent and other Assamese people but according protestors will be identified to the modus operandi of the protests and action will be taken it looks like there were other parties according to the law. involved whose intention was to create a The Assam chief minister, in his address to public which he gave to select We were protesting media houses, said that the protest is propaganda by peacefully at Ganeshguri some sections and the violent on 11th December, but protest is a political propaganda. “There are people in the protests sent suddenly we saw some by political parties to create a law and unknown people starting order situation so that the government is slammed,” said a BJP state executive to break the dividers and member. He said that there are many pelting stones on the opponents of BJP, and this is the chance they are taking to topple the government security personnel,” said a which is impossible. student of Handique Girls’ A social activist and senior journalist, Manjit Mahanta, talking to G Plus said, College, Urmila Das. “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP is doing this (creating law and order situation) so that the authorities get a chance to impose curfew, disconnect internet, bring in more army to suppress the Assamese people,” adding that Assamese people can never carry out violent protests. He said that it is the strategy of the BJP government to suppress the Assamese sentiments. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has asked the Assamese people not to resort to any kind of violence which will help the government to suppress the voice of the Assamese people. In Hatigaon the situation was grim as a minor had lost his life after police fired to control the mob, File photo GP Singh IPS, the new ADGP Law & Order but the local residents of Hatigaon said that the people who carried out violent protests law and order mess. there were not from Hatigaon and were “We were protesting peacefully at not even students. Ganeshguri on 11th December, but Police sources also felt that the violent suddenly we saw some unknown people protestors were not students and an starting to break the dividers and pelting investigation will be done after the stones on the security personnel,” said situation eases. “Students will not attack a student of Handique Girls’ College, vehicles of ADGP or DGP level police Urmila Das. officers,” said a senior police official of Similarly, there are similar stories from Guwahati East Commissionerate. across the city and also the state. On 11th The convoys of ADGP Harmeet Singh December, at around 2.30 pm, a group of and DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta were people suddenly went to Fancy Bazar and attacked by the protestors. started breaking the street vending shops
G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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Mayhem on Guwahati streets: that moment when the protest went out of control | G Plus photo
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
Anti-CAB protests leaves Guwahati devastated; public property takes the biggest hit G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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eserted, desolate and disoriented three words aptly describe the current state of Guwahati city which was counted among the fastest growing cities in the world and was getting ready to host a summit between the Japanese Premier and the Indian Prime Minister. The anti Citizenship Amendment Bill protests which turned violent left the city in a shambles, still under curfew, is a telling story on how a peaceful movement led mainly by students is being hijacked by some miscreants. “I appeal to the people of Assam and especially students to protest peacefully....the violent acts will give administration a chance to clampdown on protestors with a strong fist... we don’t want that with peaceful agitation we will achieve our goal,” Samajjul Bhattacharya, Adviser to the influential All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) said. The nerve centre of anti CAB protests was Guwahati, the protestors laid siege on the city on December 11 by noon and within an hour the entire scenario changed. Smoke billowing up from the road leading to the assembly secretariat near Dispur gave an early signal of what was in store. Tear gas shells, rubber bullets, Varun water canon was used to quell the protests and stop the “Dispur Chalo” march of students who came out spontaneously to join the ongoing agitation. Students from Cotton, B. Barooah, Handique College etc dressed in their uniforms started their march to converge near assembly secretariat. The resultant effect at GS Road traffic was clogged for hours
as public were stranded either in their bikes or four wheelers for several hours. And as time passed by it became much more chaotic and by evening the whole Guwahati-Shillong Road starting from Ulubari to Six Mile virtually turned into a warzone. With protest reaching its crescendo, public transport buses were emptied by the protestors which left thousands of daily commuters stranded on the road searching for an alternative mode of transport. The biggest sufferer of the entire fiasco was the common people with minimum earnings. As the public transport system due to the protests completely collapsed they were left in the middle of a violent sea of humanity, raising questions about the preparedness of administration on how to tackle an emergency situation in favour of the people who have nothing to do with the agitation. As the protests grew louder by evening the entire GS Road stretch was marked by burned tyres, broken barricades and charred vehicles. “I have never seen this kind of agitation in my lifetime....have seen Assam Agitation but it is nothing near to it....shocked to see that entire GS Road stretch which was decked up is now in ruins,” a retired school teacher who stays in Christian Basti told G Plus. The ripple effect of GS Road incident spread like wildfire in the nooks and corners of the city and by the time dark descended the whole city was engulfed by torch light procession starting from Jalukbari to Lokhra, Lal Ganesh to Pan Bazar, Silpukhuri to Ganeshguri as the air reverberated with chants of “Jai Aai Axom.”
A damaged tractor on the streets of Guwahati: just an example of the loss that occurred | G Plus Photo As the chants grew louder, the administration’s grip over the situation got looser and which ultimately forced it to enforce an indefinite curfew and a blanket ban on internet services. “CAB or no CAB it doesn’t make any difference to me. I was preparing for my bank services examination online....the ban on internet has put a sudden brake on my preparations....I am worried that if it continues for long....it will definitely harm my preparations”, an unemployed graduate told G Plus. Notably, the Anti CAB protests which has affected the entire state with Guwahati as a nervecentre has a silent lot of people who are not really bothered about it and want to go ahead with their daily lives that are full of chores. But those who are involved in the agitation continued to defy the curfew and came out as clashes between police and
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agitators became the order of the day. The turmoil of December 11 and 12, 2019 surpassed the dark day of serial bomb blasts which shook the entire city in 2008. The whole stretch of GS Road was plunged into darkness as the streetlights were switched off. Occasional sounds of tear gas shells, yellow fire in middle of GS Road and other arterial roads of the city, which otherwise remain a hustle bustle of activity, painted a grim picture and is a reminder of a collateral damage any large scale movement will have on the public property. The large scale violence which was witnessed in last two days also laid bare the fact the utter administration failure of the government. Intelligence gathering is one of the most critical aspects of police when it comes to curbing violence in any mass agitation.
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However, in this anti-CAB protest, Assam Police failed miserably to gauge the reaction of people which led to such large scale violence. Section 144 was not imposed during the Wednesday as students were allowed to march 10 kms to reach a high security zone area near assembly secretariat. Large scale shuffle of senior police officers in the last two days is a proof of the fact that men in uniform were found wanting to tackle the situation. As I write today, Guwahati is still under curfew but people came out on Friday and which is a sign of resilience character of Guwahatians which is fast becoming a cosmopolitan city. And if the signals emanating from heart of Guwahatians are anything to by, it appears that the prevailing situation in the “Gateway of North East” will become normal sooner than later.
#CAB
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
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Does CAB nullify the Rs 1250 Cr NRC exercise? G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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he Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), now a law with the signature of assent of the President of India, is the “new kid on the block” that we are yet to come to understand fully. What the law holds in its entirety is still unknown to us but its features that are salient and pertinent to Assam makes it clear that the state is going to provide the country with at least 5 lakh
The Modi-led government deigns to believe that of these 19 lakh “foreigners” 5 lakh of them are Hindus who cannot be termed as foreigners but as “refugees” who had come and settled in Assam fleeing religious persecution in Bangladesh and so deserve Indian citizenship. new citizens – people that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) had thrown up as “foreigners” who did not have the citizenship credentials to be included in this hallowed list. Needless to reiterate, the NRC (which has been prepared based on the Assam Accord with the cut-off date of 24th March, 1971 to determine citizenship credentials against the all-India cut-off of 1951) had been a labour of duty for the huge number of people who were involved in getting the list prepared over the six years that it took. It was a case of severe tension and heartburn for the people living in Assam – citizens or otherwise – each of whom wanted to ensure that their name was on the list. The legacy data factor played such havoc on the minds of many people that some of them were driven to suicide as it became apparent their legacy was just not available. And then, most notably, Hindu people residing in Assam for eons found themselves termed as foreigners even as their children happened to be citizens on the NRC. Let’s take this true story as
an example of an NRC-related tragedy: A resident of Alisinga village in Sonitpur district, Dulal Chandra Paul was aged about 65 years when he was admitted to Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) on September 28, 2019. This was about one month after the publication of the final NRC. Paul had diabetes and heart problems. Within about two weeks paul died leaving behind two sons besides his wife. When the authorities asked his family to take possession of the body, a seemingly Orwellian drama began to unfold. The thing about Paul was that his name did not figure in the draft and the final NRC. He had been declared a foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in 2017 and ever since was detained in a detention camp at Tezpur from where he was admitted to the hospital. Paul’s citizenship documentation was very weak and even his appeal to the Gauhati High Court had fallen on deaf ears as the FT’s verdict on his “foreigner” status had been upheld. With his death, the family members of Paul refused to accept his body because the hospital authorities, on paper, mentioned him as a resident of Dhaka, Bangladesh. This information had been provided by the detention camp authorities. And so, the family members demanded that his body be sent to the address in Dhaka. The other option was that he could be declared an Indian citizen in which case they were willing to accept his body. The body remained in the morgue at GMCH for ten more days as his family members remained adamant. The bizarre behaviour of the family stemmed from the worry that accepting Paul’s body would result in them losing their own citizenships because that will establish the fact they are family of a declared foreigner. This is one example of the many such human stories of tragedy that the NRC and its resultant travails threw up. As regards the money spent there is no doubt or question about costly the whole exercise it has been. The NRC exercise, monitored closely by the Supreme Court of India, was a technological marvel by itself with such softwares being written and developed which had no precedents or references to be of any help. But, given all the constraints, what it has successfully done is give us a list of names of people who are citizens of the country leaving certain individuals who are indeed true citizens and yet do not feature of the list because of documentation issues and are
currently in the process of appeals and corrections that are ongoing. The NRC has also thrown up a figure of 19 lakh individuals who are not citizens but foreigners. The Modiled government deigns to believe that of these 19 lakh “foreigners” 5 lakh of them are Hindus who cannot be termed as foreigners but as “refugees” who had come and settled in Assam fleeing religious persecution in Bangladesh and so deserve Indian citizenship. This is the case so far as Assam is concerned. The CAB, by itself, was designed to offer India as the world’s last resort for Hindus and more specifically for those Hindus among other minority communities like Christians, Jews etc who faced religious persecution in Pakistan and Afghanistan besides Bangladesh. Essentially, it is a law safeguarding the interests of Hindus who can feel free to come back to India and apply for citizenship that will be eventually granted to them. Further, it contains a clause that states that only such Hindus would be granted citizenship who have entered India prior to 31st December 2014 and no further people – persecuted or otherwise – would be allowed the same privileges. In this sense, the costly Assam NRC exercise would prove to be complementary to the CAB in because the NRC has been able to “clearly identify”
File photo of an NRC Seva Kendra | G Plus photo the foreigners who would become eligible for citizenship under the new CAB law. However, the fact remains these foreigners could have come to Assam after the new cut-off date of 31st December 2014 and the mechanism to pinpoint this detail to “disqualify” such
Hindus from acquiring citizenship remains confusing and hazy. Further, identifying a true Hindu from a false Hindu (say, a Muslim pretending to be a Hindu for the sake of acquiring Indian citizenship) is another matter of which the less said the better.
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
A flag march and a curfew unlike any other takes Guwahati by storm: Why did it happen? G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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flag march by the Army in a disturbed area of the country is basically a gesture or a measure of confidence building, something that would convey the message: “Don’t worry, we are here to look after you and you need to fear nothing.” Well, this morning (morning of 12th December), the Indian Army did stage a flag march in Guwahati
The “trusted” local BJP leaders, towards the later part of 2018, started virtually shoving this idea of the Centre down the Assamese society’s throat. Their rhetoric was clear and they did not spare any platform to address the public of the virtues of giving citizenship to Hindus from neighbouring Bangladesh. only to further fan the already inflamed sentimental feathers of the indigenous Assamese community. The question today on everyone’s mind is why Assam (or at least its Brahmaputra Valley) is behaving the way it is over the “much desirable” Citizenship Amendment Bill or CAB that has been welcomed by the rest of India. Much ignored that Assam is by the mainstream Indian media, this question is understandable as mainstream India indeed does not know of Assam’s demographic problems. In a nutshell, the state’s not-too-distant history of the 1960s and 1970s had witnessed unfiltered and unabated infiltration from across the border with Bangladesh –
poverty-stricken Bangladeshis crossing over a porous border by the hordes over many years so as to drastically alter the demographic characteristic of Assam whereby the local, indigenous population began to fear being usurped off its land and culture. Prior to 1971, or in fact prior to India’s independence, such crossovers had continued whereby Assam found itself being forced to absorb such immigrants creating tremendous pressure on its land. But Assam was the only state in India that felt impelled by circumstances to offer its home and hearth to people who did not belong here. The consequence of this was a savage six year long agitation from 1979 to 1985 which left 855 dead and scores injured besides creating havoc with many a career. The physical remnants of this entire slice of history of invasion and agitation culminating in the historical Assam Accord of 1985 signed between the student leaders spearheading the agitation and the government of India led by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is that today, there is confirmed and continuing existence of illegal migrants in Assam and the threat of usurpation continues to be felt by the indigenous Assamese. In short, since 1985, and through several governments, nothing has been done to address the issues of illegal infiltration or to implement the clauses of the Assam Accord. The indignation is huge today and it all stems from the promises of each and every political party to check the rot – a solid political card that played on the emotionally charged Assamese psyche. The Assam Accord had two telling clauses that were accepted in good faith. Clause 5 specifically pertained to detection, deletion and deportation of illegal migrants present on Assamese soil. Clause 6 pertained to safeguard of Assamese identity, culture and literature against the onslaught of this illegal infiltration. And so, what prevails today within the indigenous Assamese society that mainly dominates the Brahmaputra Valley is a feeling of betrayal by the same people whom they
A shot of the flag march staged by Indian Army in Guwahati | G Plus Photo voted to power since 1985 and these included governments by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) twice, and the Indian National Congress (INC) several times. What they sought in the Bharatiya Janata Party was some trust and some respite and this was natural seeing the proactive nature of governance that the 2014 Modi-led regime seemed to offer. However, things became suspect towards the end of the 2018 when the same “trusted” BJP which the Assamese had voted into power at the state level in 2016 started acting against the hallowed Assam Accord on two counts. One was the 24th March, 1971 cut-off as an acceptance date for all the illegal migrants who had come prior to that and who would be accepted as citizens. The second was that such illegal migrants would not be discriminated as per their religions and it would not matter whether they were Hindus or Muslims; illegal migrants would be treated as foreigners to be detected and expelled if at they came after the mentioned cut-off date. The “trusted” local BJP leaders, towards the later part of 2018, started virtually shoving this idea of the Centre down the Assamese society’s throats. Their rhetoric was clear and
The confidence was lost as it was no longer a case of an issue that had turned contentious but a matter of disbelief that trusted leaders of the BJP had done a solid U-turn at the behest of their masters in New Delhi. they did not spare any platform to address the public of the virtues of having or giving citizenship to Hindus from the neighbouring Bangladesh. To top it all, in a rather poor PR exercise, the Assamese society understood that the doors have been opened to Hindu Bengali infiltration for all times to come. The greatest indignation stemmed from the fact that the Central government was showing undue haste in passing the Bill into a law in the last session of Parliament in January 2019 before its tenure was set to end and fresh elections announced in April
through May of the same year. The sense of betrayal was complete when the local BJP leaders displayed super tactlessness with their words and rather their condescending nature did not go down well with the emotionally-charged Assamese people. On 12th December last, curfew was imposed on the city of Guwahati. The Indian Army staged a flag march. Well, the confidence was lost as it was no longer a case of an issue that had turned contentious but a matter of disbelief that trusted leaders of the BJP had done a solid U-turn at the behest of their masters in New Delhi. The flag march did nothing to instil confidence and the Army being deployed did not push fear into Assamese hearts. Rather, it was a curfew that was defiled by the people and unlike any curfew seen anywhere in India. People had no fear in coming out of homes by the hordes and taking on the army in as peaceful but vociferous a manner as they could. Today the CAB stands as a law – a historical one at that – but all of what has happened over the last three days necessitates a deeper introspection by the powers who can, at their will, usher in peace and harmony into Assam again.
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
#CAB
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1947 to 2019 – Assam continues to be scorched India was divided in 1947 during independence because of partition East Pakistan, West Pakistan and India was formed The Indian constitution was adopted in 1950 The 1st National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published in Assam in 1951 following the census Assam borders with Bangladesh remained porous In 1955 Citizenship Act was promulgated Assam borders with Bangladesh remained porous In 71 East Pakistan became Bangladesh after a battle against West Pakistan army backed by India Assam borders with Bangladesh remained porous In 1979 Assam Agitation started to fight against illegal migrants from Bangladesh Assam borders with Bangladesh remained porous In 1985 Assam Accord was signed According to the accord 24 March 1971 became the deadline for people to get citizenship in Assam
India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afganistan The bill was consulted with many stake holders and it was opposed in Northeast specially in Assam Before 2019 Lok Sabha elections it was tabled in Lok Sabha but the government fearing violence did not introduce it in Rajya Sabha After elections Modi again became the Prime minister with more seats in Lok Sabha The controversial bill tabled in Lok Sabha on 9th December and passed Northeast Students Organisation (NESO) called for northeast bandh on 1th December On 11th the bill was tabled in Rajya Sabha Assam started burning with protests submerging the state Bill passed in Rajya Sabha on 11th Total Law and order failure in Assam Indefinite curfew imposed in Assam from 7 pm of 11th December Army personnel lifted from Kashmir and deployed in Assam
In 1987 Citizenship Act was accordingly amended
Top police officials transferred; Internet connectivity blocked
In 2014 Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister
Many deaths and injuries reported across Assam with 3 killed in Guwahati
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 was introduced in 2016 where it was suggested to provide citizenship to Hindus and other minorities coming to
Educational institutes closed till 22 December 13, 2019 Assam still burning and CAB becomes a law
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
#NoCAB: A photo story with captions on the last 3 days of carnage that Ghy was witness to...
Vociferous protest, a scene from Guwahati
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gam Controllin
A burnt private city bus
Public property vandalised
What Guwahati has seen over
#CAB
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
r the last three days: #NOCAB
Another burnt vehicle
Down Town police point as seen now
A towering inferno at Ganeshguri
Flag march by Indian Army
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
Has the police force failed to manage law & order in Assam? City commissioner of police Deepak Kumar and many other top police officials across Assam transferred after failing to control situation G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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ith the protests which emerged across Assam after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) was passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha recently, the mettle of Assam Police was exposed as there was total failure of law and order across the state. “The law and order situation was totally mismanaged by the
The authorities immediately cut the mobile internet service and curfew was clamped at 7 pm. But even then the public was harassed as the police failed to provide any security to the public. 100 and 108 phone numbers did not connect. Till 13th December the ‘Dial 100’ number is found to be dysfunctional. Assam Police on the first three days of the protest as properties worth crores of rupees were destroyed and gutted by the protestors,” said a state executive member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under
condition of anonymity. The member said that the police did not know what exactly they should have done when it was required the most. There were students who were protesting peacefully, so the police should not have lathi-charged on them, whereas there were some “third party” protestors which resorted to violent protests. These third party protestors should have been identified and detained by the police, opined the BJP leader. A top police official of the East Police commisionerate district of Guwahati talking to G Plus said, “It is very difficult to identify the trouble mongers within the protestors where majority are students.” He expressed that unless the police have orders to fire tear gas or resort to lathi-charge it is difficult for the police to take a decision. He also said that it was not expected that the protestors would carry out a planned protest across Guwahati. It was not only one road from where the protestors were moving, but all the adjacent lanes of GS Road were also used. If the protestors were chased from one lane, the other group came from another lane. This was the story of GS Road. Talking about other parts of the city, a youth from Jyotikuchi who works in Paltan Bazar narrated a horrifying story. He works near the Paltan Bazar police station. On 11th November (the day bill was tabled and passed in Rajya Sabha) when the chaos started in the afternoon he left his duty and moved towards his house from Paltan Bazar at around 5 pm. According to him the protestors did not look like students. “They (protestors) were
A desperate police force faced a tough time containing the protestors | G Plus photo breaking the dividers, shops and burning everything. In front of my eyes they started pelting stones on a bus at Nepali Mandir point. They even tried to take my bike but I pleaded that I am an
Assamese and anti CAB, then they left me but asked me to turn off my bike headlights,” said Biki Das.
The authorities immediately cut the mobile internet service and curfew was clamped at 7 pm. But even then the public was harassed as the police failed to provide any security to the public. A G Plus employee who lives in Sixmile wanted to go home from Ulubari at 9 pm. The then commissioner of police Deepak Kumar was contacted but he refused to provide any security. The joint
commissioner of police was also contacted who claimed that there were no protestors on GS Road. The G Plus employee then left for Sixmile but at Bhangagarh a huge crowd blocked his way. Somehow he managed to turn his car and return to office (at Ulubari) where he was compelled to spend the night. Meanwhile, he even tried calling 100 and 108 but the calls did not connect. Till 13th December the ‘Dial 100’ number has been found to be dysfunctional. On 12th December early morning the home department reshuffled the police department and many top police officials were transferred. ADGP GP Singh
was brought in from national deputation and posted in Assam Police as ADGP (Law and Order). Singh replaced ADGP Mukesh Agarwal who is now posted as ADGP Border. In Guwahati police commissionerate, commissioner of police Deepak Kumar was shunted out and the charge was given to IGP Munna Prasad Gupta who was holding the post of IGP (T & AP) and only on 11th he was also given the additional charge of IGP (STF & prosecution). ADGO Kumar is posted as ADGP (T&AP) and (STF). All four deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) of Guwahati were also transferred. Subhashini Shankaran is the new DCP east, Nilesh Sawakare is the new DCP west, Longnit Terang is the new DCP central and Ranjan Bhuyan is the new DCP traffic. Major transfers were also announced in upper Assam as SPs of Jorhat, Dibrugarh and other important districts were also transferred. On 12th December, after ADGP GP Singh and other police officials took over the law and order, the police, with the help of the army personnel, resorted to lathi-charge, blank bullet and tear bullet firing. Three people died in Guwahati in police firing. The vehicles of top official like ADGP Harmeet Singh and DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta were also attacked by the protestors.
#CAB
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
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Why is BJP so obsessed with CAB in spite of huge stirs in Assam? G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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he Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB has been a major bone of contention with many political parties including BJP, Congress and other regional players. It had been used as an agendum for campaign by political parties and had played a major role in deciding BJP’s return to power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Before the Lok Sabha elections, the bill was tabled in Lok Sabha but later because of the protests across the northeast the bill was not introduced in Rajya Sabha. Even then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was enthusiastic and lastly they passed the bill in both the houses on 9th and 11th December respectively. The obsession over the bill by the saffron party is being questioned by many sections even as Assam continues to burn. “With the bill the BJP wants to polarise the vote banks,” said Congress leader and leader of opposition, Assam, Debabrata Saikia.
A state executive BJP member talking to G Plus under condition of anonymity explained that talking about vote banks, BJP will certainly benefit. There are many Hindus across the country who will get voting rights after the CAB is passed. The recently concluded National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam found around 19 lakh people to be illegal immigrants as their names were not figuring in the final list. The BJP leaders claim that among these 19 lakh people, around 5.5 lakhs are Hindu Bengalis. The CAB will now help these 5.5 lakh Bengali Hindus to become the citizens of the country and they will get voting rights. Who will they vote for eventually? Obviously the BJP, said the member. The CAB makes the process of gaining Indian citizenship easier for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It relaxes the norms to apply for citizenship by reducing the 11-year requirement of Indian residency to six years for people belonging to the afore-mentioned six religious communities. Other than northeast and
especially Assam, many were celebrating the passing of CAB in the country as they will get voting rights. Many Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Afghanistan will also get voting rights. In West Bengal, where the assembly elections are just around the corner, the BJP is expecting a huge voter turnaround because of CAB. Therefore, the executive member said that there are so many such people living across the country. The vote bank will obviously increase and the bill is being calculated as a pro-Hindu bill. The Union Home minister, Amit Shah, has also announced that a national NRC will be made and the deadline is 2024. 2024 is the next Lok Sabha election and the BJP is gradually increasing its vote banks so that by 2024, the entire country is polarized, said the member. Therefore, the protests are only seen in the northeast mainly and Assam in particular. The government has further separated Assam from other northeastern states as the states with inner line permit (ILP) – Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and now Manipur- do not fall under
the purview of CAB. Sates like Meghalaya will also not suffer as 97% areas are under the 6th schedule, which will not fall under CAB. Even in Assam the autonomous areas like Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD), Karbi Anglong, North Cachar Hills and Missing Autonomous Council fall under the 6th schedule. Therefore, these areas are not under CAB and therefore people there are not protesting. Those opposing the CAB are of the opinion that this new law will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, according to which, the cut-off date for deportation of illegal immigrants, irrespective of religion had been set as March 24, 1971. “We have already sacrificed for 20 years. While the entire country was taking illegal immigrants till 1951, we were taking till 1971. But now we cannot take anymore till 2014, Hindu or Muslim, migrants are migrants,” said a student Pragyan Deka. All Assam Students’ Union advisor, Samujjal Bhattacharya, talking to media said, “We cannot accept this bill. Peaceful protests along with legal battle against the
government will keep continuing.” The entire Assamese community is against the bill as it is a threat to their language, land and culture. “We don’t want a Tripura like situation where Tripuris are minority now,” said another student protesting the bill. The Congress tried its best to oppose the bill but because of their weak representation in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha they failed to stop the BJP. Now they claim they will keep opposing the bill legally. “We will fight it legally and will support the protest against the bill,” said Congress leader Debabrata Saikia. Now with the CAB being passed, other than Assam, the entire country is reacting normally to the bill. The Centre and the state governments are trying to douse the protests in Assam also by deploying the army, asking the police to take stringent action against the protestors, disconnecting the internet so that the protestors do not spread messages, and the protests might succumb to the actions of the authorities.
12 #CAB
G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
Will CAB turn out to be another IMDT? G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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ill the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) turn out to be another Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) or IMDT Act which was repealed after a long struggle by the “Jatiyodabadi” camp? None other than chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal was instrumental in scrapping the IMDT Act which unduly favoured illegal migrants and which was enacted in the year 1983. A long legal battle in the Supreme Court spread over nearly a decade was fought by Sonowal which ultimately earned him the endearing sobriquet, “Jatiya Nayak.” But look at his tryst of destiny, currently Sonowal is batting in favour of illegal migrants through the introduction of the CAB which has already became an act and which will allow persecuted minorities excluding Muslims to obtain citizenship in India. The IMDT Act was introduced in Parliament and subsequently
passed by the Late Indira Gandhiled Congress government which basically protects an illegal migrant. The act stated that the onus of proving someone as a foreigner lies with the complainant. This rule basically prevented anyone to complain about an illegal migrant. But the vexed act continued in Assam for nearly 16 years before it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2005 after hearing a petition that was filed by Sarbananda Sonowal. Scrapping of the act by the Supreme Court made Sonowal an instant political hero in Assam at that time. But since then much water has flowed under the bridge and now he finds himself on the wrong side of fence being termed as “villain” by many for allegedly murdering the interests of Assamese people by supporting the CAB. There were many striking similarities between IMDT and CAB. Both the acts’ central focus is the illegal migrant. The former protected an illegal migrant from the legal system, while the latter today allows an illegal migrant to obtain Indian citizenship. The influential All Assam
A ‘No CAB’ signage: a protest that the IM(DT) Act never really saw | G Plus photo Students’ Union (AASU) which is spearheading the current agitation has already moved the apex court against the decision. The leadership of AASU has admitted that it will be a long legal and democratic battle. It may be mentioned here that the lopsided IMDT Act continued in Assam for 22 long years and the dismal record of foreigners’
detection by the tribunals set up under the Act is nothing to write home about. Many legal experts have said that the IMDT Act was a “paper tiger” but it still remained prevalent in Assam for such a long time which put a hindrance on the path of detection of foreigners in the state. It is a sharp contrast for chief
minister Sonowal now. As a student leader he was at the forefront in taking steps against the vexed IMDT Act. And now as a political leader, he is being accused of making the route for illegal migrants to become citizens of India easy. Just that all such illegal migrants that Sonowal favours happen to be Hindus. n
Protestors catch ambulance ferrying stranded air passengers from LGBI Airport G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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ith the city under siege due to the imposition of curfew since the evening of 11th December last, eight college students from Bhubaneswar found themselves stranded upon their arrival at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport of Guwahati. Their destination was Shillong, the capital of neighbouring state Meghalaya and their attempt was to find a cab that would drop them
off at Jorabat. Unfortunately none were available at the airport. They had earlier prebooked a cab from Shillong which was not allowed to enter Guwahati due to its Meghalaya registration plate and the vehicle was sent back to Shillong. Eventually, an ambulance at the airport picked them up promising to drop them off at Jorabat in a deal of Rs 7,000 which the students paid in advance. Unfortunately for them, the ambulance and its unusual passengers and their baggage caught the attention of a procession of protestors at Ulubari. The ambulance driver
was caught and thrashed while the students, scared stiff as they were, were not harmed at all. One of the students said to G Plus , “I know we have not done the right thing by hiring an ambulance, but we were helpless. We are stranded on the city roads now and are very scared.”
The errant ambulance where its driver tried to make a fast buck taking advantage of the curfew
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
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Citizens defy curfew clampdown to register protest at Latasil Field G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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ntil 10.30 am on 12th December last, except for a strong presence of Army personnel in the area, the Latasil Field at Uzanbazar area of Guwahati wore a pretty deserted look. After all, curfew had been clamped on Guwahati since the 6.15 the
Among the speakers were Samujjal Bhattacharya, Nitumoni Saikia (editor of Pratidin Time), Zubeen Garg, senior journalist Manjit Mahanta, and Prasanta Rajguru (editor of Amar Asom). All basically appealed for a long and tenacious but peaceful and democratic agitation. previous evening and the Indian Army had staged a flag march that morning in various parts of the city. The field’s lush green grass looked ready for a cricket match which would otherwise have been already under way had the
situation been normal in the city. However, as one approached Gauhati High Court, some boisterous sloganeering could be distinctly heard. Female voices at that! The high pitched chorus could be heard clearly and it came from beyond the Latasil Police Station. It came from the terrace of the Cotton University Girls’ Hostel where the students had parked themselves for just this purpose. On the road outside their hostel gate - the eastern bank of Dighalipukhuri - a handful of protestors had already gathered and they were no less loud with their antiCAB slogans. All this was under the watchful eyes of the army jawans who had taken position to ensure things remained peaceful. The protestors tried to approach Latasil Field but were firmly thwarted back by the army jawans. Even though one could feel the area being charged and in agitation mode, the scheduled protest meeting called for by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) at 11 am seemed unlikely to happen until 11.30 am. The first of the protestors came in a large procession from FC Road, shouting slogans full-throated. They doggedly approached Latasil Field and were stopped at the last crossing by a posse of Assam Police personnel and Army jawans. As they were pushed back away from the site of protest more people joined. The push back stopped at the Ideal Pharmacy crossing by which time three truckloads of Army jawans jumped down from their vehicles and began to stake the area. The slogans
The surging crowd of protestors at Latasil Plaground | G Plus photo continued unabated; the words used were rather creative. The crowd just refused to disperse. It was then that the police fired tear gas shells to instil some fear into the crowd. While the crowd did disperse momentarily, they re-gathered with renewed vigour bolstered by the large presence of womenfolk who had joined the procession. In the meantime, the crowds came in from all sides towards the centrally located Latasil Field and the gates were broken open. People rushed in and the security personnel chose to stand by. In no time, Latasil Field became a sea of humanity with people from all strata and walks of life filling
the ground up rapidly. This was around 12.30 – 1 pm. The moment was apt for the arrival of AASU Advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya and his arrival brought renewed confidence into the milieu that had gathered. Post his arrival, the icons of the cultural world including Zubeen Garg, Manas Robin, Baracha Rani Bishoya and Kopil Bora among others arrived and the protest meeting well and truly commenced. Among the speakers were Samujjal Bhattacharya, Nitumoni Saikia (editor of Pratidin Time), Zubeen Garg, senior journalist Manjit Mahanta, and Prasanta Rajguru (editor of Amar Asom). All basically appealed for a
long, tenacious but peaceful and democratic agitation that would register well with the state and central governments. All the speakers also appealed that public property should not be damaged in the process and to refrain from all sorts of violence. It was a different day in the city which has had its slew or curfews in its chequered history that saw people stay indoors with no one willing to venture out. This curfew was defied by all and sundry and the protest meeting was well and truly registered with a turnout that has remained unprecedented since the Assam Agitation days of the early 1980s. n
State machinery turns to ashes in the name of CAB
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ith the Centre’s decision on bringing in the Citizenship Amendment Bill and getting it passed in the Upper House, there has been a certain amount of destruction and loss of public property in the name of protests against the same. As the Assam government was gearing up to host the historic Indo-Japan Summit the state leadership left no stone unturned in terms of beautification of the city. But protestors took to the streets of Guwahati and went on a rampage to destroy the state machinery used for the purpose. It is to be mentioned that
the unrest caused by many not only refrained themselves from protesting in a peaceful manner but also uprooted the concrete as well as green themed city’s beautification. Just when the Citizenship Amendment Bill was being tabled in the Rajya Sabha the freshly painted walls of Guwahati was inked with ‘NO CAB’ slogans which indeed was a massive loss of the state’s treasury. However, things turned worse by the night of December 10 when the citizens as well as protestors took reigns of demolishing railing, billboards, bus stands, police check points which were all indeed for the people, by
the people and of the people of Guwahati. The stretch covering from Ulubari to Ganeshguri can be a classic example which vouches the damage done in the last two days. State machinery which were used for the propose of city’s wellness were burnt down to ashes. From generators to JCB’s (land Excavators) to vehicles of public and private now just stands as a piece of junked piece. As on Friday the 13th December, although looks like to have calmed down but it looks like the city has already gone back to at least 5 years in terms of modernisation in the name of protest for the bill.
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
Modi’s new India: A new perception of what is ‘normal’ G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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n May 2019, Narendra Modi was re-elected with an even bigger mandate. Overwhelmed by the “love” he received, he promised to alter the existing India into a “new India” within this tenure of his. For the record, India would turn 75 in 2022 and the city along with the rest of the country can expect even greater celebratory events for the occasion. Well, the politically sharp duo from Gujarat – Narendra Modi
Today, Assam, which had, in good faith, sent 9 of its 14 members of Parliament to power from the BJP through some grand mandates, feels that what has happened with the CAB is essentially socially divisive agenda. and Amit Shah, currently Prime Minister and Home Minister respectively of India – seems to have a new definition of the “new India” envisaged by them where the word “normalcy” is an operative term no matter what the situation on the ground is. Things are presented as normal. And so, the situation in Assam prior to the passage
of the Citizenship Amendment Bill into a law was perhaps abnormal, and normalizing the same meant imposing a curfew, shutting off the internet and letting the Indian army onto the state. We got a taste of this new normal first hand when an entire state (region for that matter if you take Tripura into account) tried to protest against a law that would basically alter the country – a law that was hastily passed through the Parliament for whatever reason. Essentially, the Modi-Shah combination, after having lit a huge political inferno in Jammu & Kashmir, have deigned to move the army and paramilitary forces deployed there to the Assam without having any inclination of the sentiments that they have hurt and sense of betrayal among their diehard voters that they have perpetrated. And typically, it is quite incomprehensible that the Prime Minister considers all his moves to be in the best interests of the country and those who are in disagreement with him do have the same and could well be speaking in the voice of a our notoriously combative neighbour to our west. All this comes at a time when India is facing an economic slowdown that is kicking its very belly such that the future of a whole generation comprising millions is not look very bright at all. What was the huge compulsion of rushing through a nation-changing Bill at the expense of looking at and finding solutions towards the deteriorating economic conditions of the people is what leaves us baffled. Is Modi being influenced by the bigoted and despotic
Army personnel trying to ‘normalize’ the situation in Guwahati | G Plus photo disposition of Donald Trump? After all, the last meeting that we saw of both these gentlemen, they have turned out to be great friends. But America and India are different. The one is one of the richest countries in the world, technologically advanced and a true world leader. Has been so ever since. And India, while being home to one-fifth of the world’s population is still among the poorest despite boasting of some of the well-known billionaires in the world. The two democracies are entirely different and just cannot be equated. But the leaders and their latest despotic activities seem remarkably alike. New jobs – that too annually
– are what is required in India because every year without economic growth and without new jobs, the path out of poverty becomes more difficult for the millions who face it. New policies that rest on dividing people even more and thereafter suppressing the consequent dissent would lead to nothing but disaster in the future. The BJP’s new style of governance seems to begin and end with votes. Today, Assam, which had, in good faith, sent 9 of its 14 members of Parliament to power from the BJP through some grand mandates, feels that what has happened with the CAB is essentially socially divisive agenda. To top it,
there has been nothing really tangible by way of development gains; a few better roads is not development, it is a normal expectation from any government. It is creation of jobs, new industries in tune with the fragile eco-system of the state, better healthcare than what is available et al that constitutes better governance. What is happening currently is nothing but divisive politics on the ground and utter betrayal of trust at the emotional level. But if this is the new normal in “new India” then we in Assam better get prepared to either be abnormal or accept it the way our Prime Minister thinks it best for us.
Internet ‘SHUT DOWN’ all across Assam
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n a notification issued by the state government of Assam, in lieu of the ongoing protests against Citizenship Amendment Bill in different parts, the state government of Assam has directed all telecom operators to suspend Internet services from December 11, 7 PM till date. Along with Kamrup Metro, the other districts that will be affected by this clapdown that are Lakhimpur, Tinkusia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivsagar, Jorhat, Golaghat and Kamrup (R). Although the State govt has notified that the blockage of internet is to stop blocking of misinformation about CAB but a lot of people including patients, students and businessman has been impacted because of this out-through blockage.
The step has been taken in view of the ongoing agitation against the CAB as the administration is of the view that the intensity might only increase to a grave law and order situation. With what it can be seen now is the netizens of Guwahati are in dire straits to revive the status of themselves along with the family and friends as they are unable to connect with rest of the social media network.
Representative image
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
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Does disruption of connectivity affect the movement against
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019? G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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ssam has been thrown into turmoil over the past three days along with the entire northeast, boiling over the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill, which was formally adopted into a law on the night of 12th December after the President’s
Slogans like “BJP Go Back”, “Joi Aai Axom” expressed deep betrayal of trust towards Assam’s Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal and State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, indicating, all love is lost between them and the indigenous people of the state. assent has further escalated protests in Assam. The epicentre of it all, Guwahati, has seen relentless protests by youth, political figures, students, artists and people from various other professions where they took to the streets, chanted slogans of “BJP Go Back”, “Joi Aai Axom” among others expressing deep betrayal of trust from Assam’s Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal and State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, indicating, all love is lost between them and the indigenous people of the state. The agitators sprayed with colours the freshly painted walls of the city with “NO CAB” messages, burnt the PVC medians (road dividers), damaged bus shelters and other public property, a lot of which was set up and beautified keeping in mind the Indo-Japan meet between Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe in Guwahati. Protests continued late into
the night and started early in the morning, dissenting the Modi led Government’s decision to legalize the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019. “Sirens continue to wail across the capital city reminding us that not everything is normal. Police continue to roam the city making announcements on loudspeakers making every day a more stressful day than the last,” said a resident of Rupnagar to G Plus. “It is deeply upsetting to see Guwahati in such anarchy. Having lived here my entire life, this is something I have not witnessed in the past 30 years.”
Internet cut off in Assam and parts of Northeast But how has the administration chosen to tackle this chaos? In a first, mobile internet services were suspended in select parts of Assam and northeast. On December 11, an indefinite curfew was ordered starting 6:15 pm and mobile internet was suspended from 7 pm onwards. But with citizens continuing to have access to broadband and fibre internet, a lot of information continued to flow out of the region. Videos and photographs flooded social media. This was quickly followed by an overnight order to disconnect broadband services across Assam. ISPs such as MNet, Jio Fibre to the Home, Rajdhani Broadband and Amtron were named in an order issued by the Home and Political (A) Department, Government of Assam and were asked to suspend their services from 12pm to 8pm on 13 December, 2019. While the first order for the suspension of mobile internet was also just for 24 hours, the order was further extended to
Despite the internet shutdown, the crowds turned up spontaneously to protest | G Plus photo 14th December, 2019 when the administration failed to take control of the situation.
A Kashmir like situation?
With internet being suspended in Kashmir for several weeks now, speculations are being made if Guwahati too will reel under a similar situation. “No matter how much the government represses us, this agitation is not going to stop. The people of Assam have come together to fight this repression. This protest is going to overrun the streets and as long as the CAB is in place, we will protest and take it to court,” said Manjit Mahanta, senior journalist and activist to G Plus. Internet services have also been suspended in the city and curfew has been imposed for the past 3 days. “This only goes to show that the government is scared of the people. The agitators have defied the curfew and gathered in large numbers. People are not concerned about such repressive orders. The government may believe that disruption of communication will weaken the people’s spirit, but this is the ‘sentiment of regionalism’. There was
With internet being suspended in Kashmir for several weeks now, speculations are being made if Guwahati too will reel under a similar situation. no internet, WhatsApp or Facebook during the days of Assam Agitation and yet, thousands stormed the streets to participate. Young people have been beaten up and shot. What is the government trying to prove? That they will order and we will obey? That is not democracy, it is autocracy! Sarbananda Sonowal, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Atul Bora, Keshab Mahanta, Phani Bhushan Choudhury and Chandra Mohan Patowary are all agents and brokers of the government who obey everything that the leaders at the Centre order,” he added. On being asked if Assam could become as unstable as Kashmir, he said, “People of Assam cannot be contained
with bullets and sticks. The government’s repressive strategy for Kashmir and Assam could be the same, but Assam and Kashmir are not the same,” he concluded.
BJP government and media blackout
The government’s go-to solution has largely become a media and a connectivity blackout in times of crisis. After repealing Article 370 in Kashmir, an indefinite curfew was declared in the region and internet connectivity was snapped. This autocratic governance has made the headlines quite often, but the leaders at the centre continue to employ this tactic. “Everything is peachy if you can’t see what’s on the other side of the fence. The BJP owns several media and in the past have managed to make difficult situations favourable for them,” said a resident of Guwahati speaking about the internet blackout in Assam. “The national media cannot highlight this if they can’t see this and I think this is what they largely rely on,” he further added.
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G PLUS | Dec 14 - Dec 20, 2019
Indo-Japan summit deferred amidst CAB uproar in Guwahati G Plus News @guwahatiplus
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eavy preparations had been initiated in Guwahati to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe for the Indo-Japan summit meeting, scheduled to be held from 15th to 17th December, 2019 - for the very first time outside the capital city of New Delhi. However, sources in the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) have said that the summit has been deferred until further notice.
Laying down the red carpet
Heavy preparations were put in place for the arrival of the dignitaries. The city saw overnight beautification
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of the village would have been “exploring characteristics of Japanese heritage.� Starting from the airport, the city would have been decorated with several pole flags, feather flags, standees and unipoles at strategic locations. The statue of Lachit Borphukan on the Brahmaputra River was refurbished by prominent sculptor, Biren Sinha.
The Agenda The Japanese PM was scheduled to arrive in the evening on 15th December where he would have been welcomed with several cultural programs. Arrangements were made for his stay Vivanta by Taj, Guwahati. His Indian counterpart would have stayed at Hotel Radisson Blu. On 16th December, the dignitaries were set to take a cruise on MV Rudrasingha on the Brahmaputra, visit the old DC Bungalow which has now
That selfie can go viral as soon as internet is restored | Photo: Surajit Sharma
The defacing that started it all | G Plus photo where walls and dividers were painted, statues refurbished, riverfront developed and all of that at a tremendous pace. The Public Works Department (PWD) left no stone unturned in expediting the development of the riverfront. The riverside facing buildings were painted, several properties have been refurbished and paver blocks have been used to make the river front accessible. Sources at the ATDC said that there were 36 welcome gates installed for the dignitaries. They had also planned to install several hoardings across the city. The highlight would have been an indigenous village set up at Pomonakha, the river island on Brahmaputra. This design would have incorporated elements from both Japanese and Indian culture. The theme
been converted to a heritage site and then proceed to Hotel Radisson Blu for the business meet between the leaders.
CAB row defers the arrival of dignitaries With Guwahati being the epicentre for the protests, several thousand people gathered on 12th December and 13th December at Latasil Playground and Chandmari AEI field respectively, protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 becoming a law in the country. Top sources confirmed that the unrest has deferred the visit of the dignitaries until further notice. Although there were rumours that Bhubaneswar could be an alternative venue for the event, those rumours have also been quashed.