Seven detained in Guwahati for black flag protest against PM Modi

The Guwahati Police today detained seven people in connection with black flag protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. police commissioner Deepak Kumar said.

The Prime Minister who left for Arunachal Pradesh this morning will return to Assam to lay the foundation stone for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and a six-lane bridge over river Brahmaputra in Changsari on the outskirts of Guwahati where he is also scheduled to address a rally.

He also inaugurate Numaligarh Refinery Ltd’s bio-diesel refinery, the Barauni-Guwahati gas pipeline and the North East gas grid through remote control. He will also visit Tripura later in the day.

Kumar said prohibitory orders have been imposed in Guwahati for three months.

Protestors belonging to Assam Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad (AJYCP) and the powerful All Assam Students Union (AASU) waved black flags on Saturday to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which proposes to relax conditions for citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan . The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in January.

On Friday evening too protestes waved black flags as Modi drove down from the Guwahati airport.

The Bill has sparked major protests across the Northeast and particularly Assam. The BJP’s coalition partner, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) pulled out of the government in December in protest against the Bill.

Last week, Assam’s top bureaucrats conceded that the situation in the state is challenging.

First Published: Feb 09, 2019 11:47 IST