Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said here on Thursday that people of northeast are against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, irrespective of their religions.
"Unrest is across the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. But the worst situation is in northeastern states, as a result of the passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in both Houses. People of the northeast, irrespective of religion, are against the bill," Azad told ANI.
The Congress has vehemently opposed the bill with its leaders calling it 'anti-Constitution' and 'anti-Muslim'. The Centre, however, has given repeated assurances that the bill is not against any citizen of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured the people of Assam that they "have nothing to worry after the passing of CAB".
CAB got the nod of Parliament after Rajya Sabha passed it on Wednesday. As many as 125 members of the Upper House voted in favour of the Bill while 105 MPs voted against the Bill. The Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting. It was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this week.
Assam's Guwahati and Dibrugarh have been placed under indefinite curfew till further orders in the wake of protests after the passage of the Bill.
The administration has also suspended mobile Internet services for 24 hours from 7 pm on Wednesday in ten districts of the state - Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (metro), and Kamrup.
Five Army columns have been requisitioned and deployed in Assam while three Assam Rifles columns have also been requisitioned and deployed in Tripura.
The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zoroastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.