*GUWAHATI: *Washington and London issued travel warnings for northeastIndia as opponents of a new citizenship law geared up for more protestsSaturday, following days of clashes that saw two people killed and dozensinjured.
Many in the far-flung, resource-rich region fear the new legislation willgrant citizenship to large numbers of immigrants from neighbouringBangladesh, who they accuse of stealing jobs and diluting the region’scultural identity.
No major incidents were reported overnight in Guwahati in Assam state, theepicentre of the protests, where two were shot dead and 26 hospitalisedthis week after security forces fired blank and live rounds, medical staffsaid.
The funeral procession of 18-year-old Sam Stafford, who was killed in thefiring, took place on Friday and was attended by hundreds of angry anddistraught mourners who shouted “Long live Assam” in Dispur, the statecapital adjoining Guwahati.
“We were watching the news all day on TV about the protests when my nephewleft home in the evening. We asked him not to go but he went with hisfriends,” the student’s aunt Julie Stafford told* AFP.*
Authorities announced a curfew in place in Guwahati would be lifted from9am to 4pm on Saturday.
But some protest groups said they planned to defy the curfew with moredemonstrations planned for the afternoon and evening.
Samujjal Bhattacharya from the All Assam Students Union, which has been atthe forefront of the protests, told *AFP* the group would continue itsfight against the new law “in the streets and in the court”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe postponeda summit that had reportedly been due to be held in Guwahati from Sunday,and the United States and Britain warned their nationals to “exercisecaution” if travelling to the wider northeast region.
Other smaller protests against the new law erupted elsewhere around IndiaFriday, with riot police clashing with hundreds of mostly studentprotestors in New Delhi and demonstrators setting fire to buildings at arailway station in West Bengal, officials said.
Rallies were also held in Kerala and Karnataka in the south as well as inModi’s home state Gujarat in the west.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) – approved this week – allows for thefast-tracking of applications from religious minorities from Pakistan,Afghanistan and Bangladesh, but not Muslims.
For Islamic groups, the opposition and rights organisations, it is part ofModi’s “Hindutva” Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise India’s 200million Muslims.
Modi denies this and says that Muslims from the three countries are notcovered by the legislation because they have no need of India’s protection.
The passage of the bill sparked angry scenes in both houses of parliamentthis week, with one lawmaker likening it to anti-Jewish legislation by theNazis in 1930s Germany.
The chief ministers of several Indian states – West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala,Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – have said they will not implement thelaw. -APP/AFP