Peaceful protests over the new citizenship law were held on Tuesday in Assam and West Bengal, where violence abated but political posturing went on, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi daring "Congress and its friends" to publicly declare they were ready to accord Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.
A combative Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal chief minister and TMC boss, dubbed arson and violence that rocked her state over the last few days as "minor incidents", and asserted the BJP-led Centre cannot "bully" states into submission and enforce the law.
Highways and railway tracks were blocked in some places in West Bengal causing inconvenience to people.
Several trains got delayed, cancelled, and short- terminated because of the continued protests, officials said.
However, no violence was reported from any part of the state.
Protesters came out in large numbers across Assam on Tuesday demanding repealing of the law and condemning Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "ridiculing" the agitators with his comment that protesters could be identified by the clothes they wore.
Women, youth and senior citizens joined protest marches organised as part of 'Mass Satyagraha' by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU).
"We warn the government not to play with the sentiments of people who have come out on the roads. The prime minister says that he respects non-violent protesters, but the government here is trying to dominate and suppress us," AASU chief adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya told a protest rally in Guwahati.
He declared peaceful protests will continue until the Act was repealed. "Until then, we will not settle," he asserted.
"It is unfortunate the the PM cannot accept our dress and ridiculed us. We strongly condemn this. We will assemble every day wearing our traditional dress," AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi told the gathering before courting arrest with protesters. All were later released.
Amid a wave of protests in several parts of the country, including university campuses, Modi sought to assuage concerns of Indians apprehensive about getting stripped of citizenship, but mounted a spirited assault on the "Congress and its friends" for "spreading lies".
The prime minister asked students to try and see whether they were not being made accomplices in a "conspiracy" where "urban naxals" and others were using their "shoulders to fire" to serve their own interests.
"The Congress is spreading lies, creating an atmosphere of fear for Muslims over the new law. Citizenship (Amendment) Act neither takes away the rights of Indian citizens nor harms them in any manner," he told an election rally at Bhognadih in Jharkhand.
The prime minister asked his political opponents to stop "dirty politics" and not to destroy the country's social fabric.
"I give an open challenge to Congress and its friends from this land of the brave...If they have courage, let them openly announce that they are ready to give Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.
"If they (the opposition) have courage, they should announce article 370 will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir... Triple Talaq will be back," he said.
Banerjee, one of the foremost critics of the citizenship law and the proposed NRC, led a second march against the new Act in two days and attacked Modi for his remark that "protesters could be identified by their clothes".
"Miscreants and commoners cannot be differentiated on the basis of attire or food habits," the TMC supremo asserted and alleged that the Centre had stopped railway services in the state over "one or two minor incidents" of violence.
Banerjee accused the BJP, which has emerged as the main challenger to her TMC in the state, of inciting violence.
"Violence and arson will not be tolerated, police will take action against the culprits," she asserted.
A Guwahati report said flight operations and some railway services have resumed. Dibrugarh airport was also operating normally, officials said.
"Trains, including some inter-city services, resumed as law and order situation has gradually improved in the state," Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) spokesperson Subhanan Chanda told PTI.
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