Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Shillong, Meghalaya, on Sunday, has been cancelled, sources in the Home Ministry have said, amid raging protests over the Citizenship Act. Amit Shah was scheduled to visit the North-East Police Academy in Shillong. According to sources, the Home Minister will visit Jharkhand on Saturday and Monday to campaign for ongoing elections.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to India, which was scheduled to be held in Guwahati next week, has been postponed amid violent protests in the northeast over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. "Both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually convenient date in the near future," foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. On Thursday, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and the country's Home Minister called off their visits to India in the midst of the agitations in the northeast.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday gave his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act. The contentious law promises citizenship to migrants from three neighbouring countries but not if they are Muslims.
The contentious act has seen massive protests in the Northeast, particularly in Assam, where two protesters were killed and many others injured in police firing on Thursday evening. Protests against the act has also gained momentum in neighbouring Meghalaya, forcing authorities to block mobile internet and SMS services across the state for two days. In order to maintain law and order in the northeast, 12 additional companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were moved from Kashmir on Thursday, news agency IANS reported quoting its sources.
Chief Minister of West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab have also said they will have nothing to do with the BJP-led centre's alleged attempts to strip the country of its secular credentials.
The act seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014.