Protests had broken out in Assam over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
The Assam government today restored mobile internet after nine days of shutdown, bringing relief to people who had to face curfew and violence on the streets during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Assam Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal told reporters that his party, the BJP, is reaching out to people to calm them down through a peace rally.
On Thursday, the Gauhati High Court while hearing several petitions challenging the internet ban had ordered the Assam government for a total rollback of the shutdown.
The ban was to end at 9 am today.
However, later in the day, the government again filed a review petition citing intelligence input that suggested the need for the ban from 5 pm to 6 am till the situation completely normalises in the state.
The High Court, however, rejected the review petition.
The rollback of the internet ban in Assam has brought relief to people. Mohammad Sakir Hussain, 42, a cab driver in Guwahati registered with a ride-hailing app, said he has not driven for the last nine days since bookings were not working without internet.
"We suffered a lot since we operate on apps like Uber and Ola. There are thousands of vehicles registered as cabs on this app in Guwahati," he said. "Every driver on an average had to suffer a loss Rs 15,000. I will have to miss paying the instalment for the car and take money from home to sustain," the Uber driver in Guwahati said.
The Assam government has also reached out to protesters. "We want to hold talks with all protesting groups including students' groups. We will make sure that the indigenous Assamese people have the first rights on land resources and we will safeguard identity, culture, traditions of Assamese people through Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which will be implemented," the Chief Minister said.
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) responded back with a big protest close to the BJP's rally venue.
"What kind of talks does the government want? We held talks with Amit Shah. We had put our points and within 24 hours of that talk the bill was introduced in parliament, so it all depends on the government's attitude," AASU advisor Sammujjal Bhattacharyya told NDTV.
The students who led the protests say the protests will continue. "We will talk to the government if they want to. They have already tried to approach the principals and vice-chancellors of universities, but our position won't change and protests will be seen on campuses in the days to come," said Hirok Jyoti Bora of the Assam Students' Forum, the joint platform of all colleges and universities where protests have been taking place for the last 15 days against the amended citizenship law.
In the remote Selengghat, 350 km from Guwahati, octogenarian Priyada Gogoi is on a hunger strike. She is the mother of Assam activist Akhil Gogoi, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency and taken into custody for allegedly trying to use to the protests in Assam to expand the Maoist base.