Against the backdrop of violent protests in Assam opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the people of the state on Thursday that they have nothing to worry about the new law.
In a series of tweets, in both Assamese and English, the prime minister said he personally and the Central government are "totally committed to constitutionally safeguard the political, linguistic, cultural and land rights of the Assamese people as per the spirit of Clause 6." The Clause 6 of the Assam Accord guaranteed safeguarding local rights, language and culture. "I want to assure my brothers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of #CAB (sic)," PM Modi wrote on the microblogging site. He said, "No one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will continue to flourish and grow."
This statement did not go down so well with netizens and they have been expressing their views in the way they know best: by posting about it on social media. After which people started questionning PM Modi that how will people from Assam read your appeal if their internet is shut. One user asked, "But Mr Prime Minister, you should rather go to Assam and tell them ‘Sab changa si’. They can’t read you because your administration has disabled their internet connection."
Here's what Twitterati had to say:
Internet services have been suspended in both the states, Assam and Tripura, over fears of the misuse of social media to disturb peace. An order issued by the Tripura government also prohibits SMSs on all networks of mobile service providers.
As tens of thousands of anti-CAB protesters descended on the streets of Assam on Wednesday, clashing with police and plunging the state into chaos of a magnitude unseen since the violent six-year movement by students that ended with the signing of the Assam accord, Guwahati was placed under curfew.
Assam has been on the boil ever since the CAB was tabled in Lok Sabha. The contentious Bill which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Lok Sabha cleared the Bill on Monday.
(Inputs from Agencies)
