Amid protests over CAB, Guwahati police chief removed, some officials transferred

Amid the uproar over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in the North East, Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar on December 12, has been removed from his position. According to sources, Kumar has been replaced by Munna Prasad Gupta as the new city police chief. Gupta was earlier posted in the Special Protection Group. In addition to it, a few other officers have also been transferred. The reshuffle is made amidst violent protests against the implementation of CAB, which was passed on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha. 

Security tightened in NE

In the wake of the increasing protests in the North-East against CAB, five Army columns have been requisitioned and deployed in Assam while three Assam Rifles columns have also been requisitioned and deployed in Tripura. The Assam government on Wednesday decided to suspend all the internet services in ten districts of Assam for 24 hours from 7 pm onwards in ten districts of the state including Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Kamrup (metro), and Kamrup. Along with it, an indefinite curfew has been placed till further orders in Guwahati and Dibrugarh. 

Read: IUML ropes in Congress' Kapil Sibal to challenge the CAB in the Supreme Court on Thursday

CAB passes in Rajya Sabha 

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, December 11, passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 (CAB) by a majority of 125-105 votes. This comes after more than 40 MPs including P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Derek O'Brien, Sanjay Singh, Sanjay Raut, and Vaiko put forth their arguments either in favour or against the CAB. 

Read: Former MP CM Shivraj Chouhan expresses happiness over passage of CAB in RS

The Bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Through this bill, Indian citizenship will be provided to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from the three countries to India till December 31, 2014, to put an end to them being treated as illegal immigrants in the country. The Bill was passed by the Lower House of the Parliament earlier this year but lapsed with the term of the previous Lok Sabha during the first term of the PM Narendra Modi government in the Centre. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha with a roaring majority of 311 votes in favour and 80 against the Bill. The CAB seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who had fled due to persecution and have sought refuge in India since December 31, 2014, or before.

Read: Prashant Kishor ramps up opposition to CAB; makes dire prediction about 'CAB + NRC combo'

Read: CPI(M) claims specific Assam NRC motive to CAB's passage, makes big allegation