Internet Restored In Meghalaya Days After Citizenship Law Protest

The internet ban in Meghalaya that was imposed after protests broke out over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has been removed. Violent protests were seen on the streets of state capital Shillong after the bill was passed by both houses of parliament.

Though internet has been restored, night curfew is still in force in Shillong.

Internet was also restored in neighbouring Assam on Friday after the Gauhati High Court ordered the government to remove the communications restrictions.

The Meghalaya government has forwarded to the centre a resolution passed on Thursday urging immediate implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state. The resolution which was passed in a special session of the state assembly aims to make the state fully exempted from the amended citizenship law.

The state where over 90 per cent of land is under the 6th Schedule and ruled by autonomous tribal council was already part of Citizenship (Amendment) Act exemptions. The 6th Schedule areas of north-east are exempted, but a few areas in Shillong were left out and this resulted in violent protests last week, so much so that curfew had to be clamped and mobile internet had to be suspended.

Several states in the north-east have been protesting against the amended law that fast-tracks the process of granting citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The protesters in the north-east say giving citizenship to immigrants will add pressure on the indigenous population and erode their political representation in the long run.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act for the first time makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they fled to India before 2015 because of religious persecution.

Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principals of the constitution.