Guwahati, December 16: The day curfew in Assam's largest city Guwahati has been withdrawn from 6 am on Monday, the Assam Police said. However, the night curfew would remain from 9 pm till 6 am on Tuesday, i.e. December 17. As Assam returns to normalcy, Police thanked the people of the state for maintaining law and order and said the situation in the state has improved immensely. The northeastern state has seen widespread protest and has been on a boil for the past few days against the the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act on refugee naturalisation. People came out on the streets, burnt tyres, set vehicles on fire to protest against the amended Act. Citizenship Act Protests in Assam: Two More Protesters Succumb to Bullet Injuries, Death Toll Jumps to Five.
On Sunday, Assam's Additional DGP (law and order) G P Singh had tweeted that the decision to extend the hours of relaxation was taken in view of the improvement in the law- and-order situation. However, internet services which were to remain suspended till Monday morning, have been extended for another 24 hours, in 10 districts. The districts include Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (Metro) and Kamrup.
Here's the tweet:
Assam Police: Situation in the state has improved immensely. We thank the people of Assam for following the spirit of the law. Day curfew has been withdrawn in Guwahati from 6 am of December 16. Night curfew would remain from 9 pm till tomorrow 6 am. pic.twitter.com/oUL9X099Ag
— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2019
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha last week, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The Bill was passed from Parliament earlier this week and became an Act with President Ram Nath Kovind giving his assent on November 12.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2019 11:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).