Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal stuck at Guwahati airport, amid protests

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was stuck at the Guhwati airport for hours, as thousands of protesters hit the streets to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which saw a smooth passage in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Amid the protests, the Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha by Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday morning. 

Sonowal, who landed in the state capital from Tezpur, was stranded at the VIP lounge of the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport, as his convoy could not roll out due to the massive protest, PTI reported. When asked if this was due to the protests in which the roads were blocked by agitating students, the sources curtly said "Perhaps". Sonowal's convoy later reached the Brahmaputra state guesthouse in the city where he resides, the sources added. 

WATCH: Smoke bomb used amid standoff between Police & CAB protesters at Assam Secretariat

Earlier on Wednesday, Sonowal asked protesters to not spread "misinformation" over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, after the state came to a grinding halt. Huge processions were taken out in different areas of Guwahati, with protesters raising slogans against the emotive legislation.

Assam protests 

Mobile services will be suspended in 10 districts of the North-Eastern state from 7 PM on Wednesday for 24 hours. Even Army has been deployed in the state and has been kept on standby. 

Earlier on December 11, Rahul Gandhi targetted PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah by sharing a news report on incessant protests simmering across the northeast, rejecting the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Objecting the Bill, Gandhi said, "The CAB is an attempt by Modi-Shah Govt to ethnically cleanse the North East. It is a criminal attack on the North East, their way of life and the idea of India. I stand in solidarity with the people of the North East and am at their service." 

READ| Assam: Students protest against Citizenship Amendment Bill turns violent; tyres set ablaze

According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, non-Muslim minorities, who fled religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and moved to the country before December 31, 2014, will be accorded Indian citizenship. It, however, exempted tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura, as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, and areas covered under The Inner Line Permit system, notified under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.

(With PTI inputs)