Bangladesh's Foreign Minister postponed trip to India due to domestic issues: MEA

The official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs, Raveesh Kumar, took to the microblogging site Twitter and informed the people that Bangladesh Foreign Minister's visit to India has been postponed due to the domestic issues.

He dismissed all the rumours stating that Dr Abdul Momen's visit to India was cancelled due to the massive protests that have been unfolding in the northeast. He termed the rumours as "unwarranted speculations". 

Army Deployed in the Northeast 

Four columns of Army have been deployed in Assam and Tripura in order to prevent worsening of law and order situation in the wake of the ongoing protests over CAB. Two columns each in Assam and Tripura have been deployed. The state government of Assam has decided to suspend the internet and mobile services in various parts of the state for 24 hours starting from 7 pm on Wednesday.

Read: MASSIVE: Two days after Lok Sabha's nod, Rajya Sabha passes Citizenship Amendment Bill

The Field Commanders and Army headquarters are monitoring the situation closely. Mobile phone and internet services have been suspended in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup Metro, Kamrup district of Assam. People in Assam have gathered in huge numbers in front of the Assam secretariat to protest against the passing of the Bill.

Read: Anti-CAB protests in Assam: Police opens fire on protestors

The protesters had a clash with security personnel while marching towards the secretariat in GS Road in Guwahati. The employee union of the Assam secretariat has also extended its support to the Anti-CAB movement. They have been protesting from inside the secretariat. 

Read: Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal on statewide CAB Protests

Citizenship Amendment Bill 

The Bill, which was passed in both the houses this week, seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants.

Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 5 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this Bill. To ameliorate their concerns, the Centre has exempted a major part of the North East from the ambit of the CAB. The opposition contends that the Bill discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14 which guarantees the right to equality.  

Read: 'Future of Sikkimese people could be in danger if CAB comes into force': Bhaichung Bhutia