Tension prevailed in minority dominated Barpeta district of Assam on Wednesday when police opened fire to disperse an angry crowd of protestors and killed three besides injuring more than a dozen protestors of minority students’ organisations.
The protestors of All Assam Minority Students Union had organised the protest demonstration to stall government proceedings of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Police said that more than 5,000 protesters led by leaders of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) went on the rampage on the streets of Barpeta town in Western Assam forcing the security forces to open fire to contain them.
The senior police officers said, “The mob became violent and started vandalism, attacking shops and private vehicles and tried storming the district magistrate’s office. Police first resorted to baton charge and then opened fire in the air before firing on the crowd to disperse them.”
The mob of protestors also set on fire a dozen of vehicles and vandalised shops and business establishment. The injured were shifted to hospital.
The All Assam Minority Students Union is demanding cancellation of the updating process of the National Register of Citizens undertaken in Barpeta as a pilot project in Assam.
The citizens have been asked to attach some documents, as proof of their citizenship with the standard government form.
These documents include the list of National Register of Citizens 1951, electoral roll of 1966 and that of 1971. The purpose of NRC update is to identify and enlist genuine Indian citizens in the state.
The All Assam Minority Students Union has been opposing the National Register of Citizens update referring the facts that this kind of registration is not done anywhere in India. The minority students have taken offence to this initiative describing that it was launched with a purpose to target and discriminate minority populations.