IIT students join Citizenship Bill stir

Guwahati, January 11 

The protests over the Citizenship Bill gathered momentum in Assam on Friday with the students of IIT-Guwahati joining the stir and the students of another college warning that the Chief Minister’s convoy would not be allowed to ply on a main thoroughfare of the city.

Students demonstrating in front of the Gauhati Commerce College said, “We have banned CM Sarbananda Sonowal and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from travelling on the RG Baruah road.The moment we see their convoy, we will block the road and not allow their cars to move.” The “ban” would continue till the Bill was scrapped, they said.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to the non-Muslims who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.

In CM Sarbananda Sonowal’s home constituency of Majuli, volunteers of the “Asomiya Yuba Mancha” tonsured their head, while National Students’ Union of India activists also protested against the Bill. IIT-Guwahati students assembled at the institute’s main gate on Thursday evening, sporting a black cloth on their faces and holding placards condemning the Bill. — PTI 

BJP-led Manipur Govt seeks exemption

Imphal: The BJP-led government in Manipur has decided to urge the Centre to exempt the state from the jurisdiction of the Citizenship Bill. Protesters hit the streets against the Bill in the state on Friday.