Published 13:17 IST, December 16th 2019
Army commander Lt Gen Chauhan: Situation in Assam improving; will return to normalcy soon
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command said Assam was improving and the situation is likely to be normal soon.
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command said that the situation in the North East, especially in Assam was improving and the situation is likely to be normal soon. His comments come after the government has deployed military units and has also ordered internet shutdown in the region after intense protests broke out following the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Situation back to normal soon
Lt Gen Chauhan said, "In the past three days, there were columns not only deployed in Assam but also in Tripura. Some columns were kept on standby in the state of Meghalaya also, but they were ultimately not deployed. Day before yesterday, they were almost 24 columns which were requisitioned in upper Assam, and about 12 in lower Assam but numbers were much lesser physically on the ground to carry out flag marches and the situation is improving fast and in a day or two Army will be back in their barracks."
Relaxation of curfew
Earlier, Union Minister of State (MoS) for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh said, "Now the situation is normal as compared to earlier. It is true that in the first two days some incidences of violence took place but the relaxation in curfew for 12 hours, that too on the demand of public clearly shows that situation is fast returning to normal."
"There are some mischievous who are taking advantage of the situation and are fanning unrest. Congress has played a big role in it as they are motivated by vested political interests. Doubts of people are being cleared through social media and party workers are also reaching them. As the misgivings are being cleared, the situation is returning to normal."
On Monday, curfew in the region was relaxed since the protests had decreased. The curfew in Guwahati and Dibrugarh in Assam has been relaxed between 6 am and 8 pm.
Updated 14:15 IST, December 16th 2019