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Protests mark PM�s second day in State

By STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Feb 9 - Widespread protests in the form of showing of black flags and black balloons, burning of the Prime Minister�s effigies and copies of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, and bandhs marked Narendra Modi�s second day in the State today.

Even as the Prime Minister addressed a massive public rally at Changsari, where he announced a number of development projects, the city roads as also elsewhere made clear the people�s strong opposition to the contentious Bill.

Activists of the AASU and 30 organisations representing various ethnic communities burnt effigies of the Prime Minister and released black balloons into the air across the State.

The AASU also condemned the police �lathi-charge� to disperse its activists who had assembled with black flags and black balloons at the Amingaon-Hajo Road, about 10 km from Modi�s rally site at Changsari.

Six Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) activists were taken into police custody when they resorted to a nude protest in front of Janata Bhawan at Dispur.

The Tai Ahom Yuba Parishad had called a 12-hour State bandh to protest the Prime Minister�s visit. This affected normal life in the Upper Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Lakhimpur and Jorhat. Vehicles remained off the road and shops and business establishments kept their shutters down.

The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) members took active part in the protest at the city�s Machkhowa area. Students of Gauhati University (GU) also waved black flags at Modi in the Jalukbari area. Police detained both the protesting groups. A few GU students alleged that they were manhandled by police.

Last evening too, the Prime Minister faced a similar situation when his entourage was proceeding from the LGBI Airport to Raj Bhawan where he spent the night.

The AASU said in a statement that the fight against the Bill would continue and that the coming days would only witness further intensification of the mass movement.

�The Bill will obliterate the composite Assamese identity in their homeland. The protest will continue and get stronger,� it said.

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