Protests continue in Assam, minister shown black flags

GUWAHATI: Protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill continued on Tuesday with black flags shown to Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Barpeta district.
Twenty agitators of the AASU, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and the AJYCP were picked up for trying to block roads and showing black flags to Sarma, who had gone for a meeting with BJP workers, police said.
Student protesters held a two-hour 'Gana Hartaal' against the bill in Sivasagar and stripped themselves partially. All shops were closed and vehicles were off the road during that period. In Nazira town of Sibsagar, the main road was blocked for some time by protesters burning tyres demanding the withdrawal of the bill.
Members of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) took out a procession in the oil town of Digboi and later burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on the national highway at Tingrai point.
The student community also held different protests at various educational institutes. In the state capital, students of the Cotton University organised a protest march, in which students of other colleges also took part.
Students of Goalpara College and Moran College too came out on roads with separate processions to lodge their opposition against the bill. AASU and 30 indigenous groups have organised a public rally in Guwahati on Wednesday.