Assam’s Brahmaputra Valley shut down in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, on Tuesday. Most business establishments were closed and attendance in government offices was thin despite strict orders from the administration for employees to be at work. There were few vehicles on the road and railway services were affected in some areas.
The 12-hour bandh followed a shutdown call issued collectively by 60-odd organisations, whose members said it was timed to coincide with the meeting of the joint parliamentary committee on the bill. The bill – which seeks to facilitate citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan – is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the Winter Session in December. The joint committee had visited Assam in May. In the Brahmaputra Valley, it had received memorandums from various groups stating their objections to the bill.