The Assam government seems to have adopted a carrot-and-stick policy to restore normalcy in a state wracked by sustained and widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 since December 10.

Curfew will be completely lifted from all the districts affected by the anti-CAB protests from 6am on Tuesday. However, suspension on mobile Internet has been extended by another 24 hours, a senior home department official said after a review meeting chaired by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the evening. Broadband Internet service will also resume from Tuesday morning.

Senior cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday addressed the state government’s first news conference following the protests against the Act that turned violent on December 11 here and elsewhere in the state, leaving four dead.

Sarma harped on three things — that a probe was on to nail those involved in the violence perpetrated by people mostly from outside Guwahati, that the government had no problem with peaceful protests against the legislation and that only 5.42 lakh people would benefit from the new legislation. However, he left several queries about the figures unanswered.

On what the government was doing to contain the protest, Sarma said everybody had a right to protest democratically and that the government had no intention of controlling peaceful protesters.

“The issue has now become sub judice. Still the government of India will open a channel of communication with peaceful protesters. The protesters are also not averse to a political dialogue. Our government has no issue with peaceful protests,” he said categorically.

Both the Centre and the state government have been drawing flak for not “respecting” the sentiments of the masses against the Act.

At least 13 petitions have been filed against the Act in the Supreme Court, including one filed by the All Assam Students’ Union and several by the Congress.

Pattern of violence

Sarma said the situation was fast returning to normal as was evident from the relaxation of curfew.

He also said 136 police cases have been registered, leading to the arrest of 190 persons. This number may go up, he added.

He specifically mentioned the vandalism that took place at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, state secretariat and Hatigaon here.

“Our probe has revealed there was a pattern to the violence. No two incidents were similar. Our probe has seen that most vandals were from outside Guwahati, from lower Assam districts such as Barpeta, Nalbari and Goalpara. However, the violence in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts were mostly by locals. We will come back to you with all details in a day or two,” he said.

In the Kalakshetra vandalism, 24 persons have been involved based on video footage and eyewitnesses.

He read out the names of the accused, most of whom were from the minority community and from outside Guwahati.

“This was led by Imran Ali, who is a Congress member. We are now trying to ascertain whether he did it on his own or at the behest of someone else. Local residents will not target this place,” he said.

Kalakshetra is a cultural and tourist hotspot, a product of the 1985 Assam Accord, named after noted saint/reformer Srimanta Xankardeb.

The beneficiaries

The senior minister and North East Democratic Alliance (Neda) convener also used the opportunity to convey that “only about 5.42 lakh people” would benefit from the new legislation, not 1.5 crore as being projected by certain quarters.

“We want to say that nobody is coming after the cut-off date of December 31, 2014. According to us, 5.42 lakh people will benefit. This is our figure, which will be less when the process starts. Some may have other figures but these are issues which can be debated and discussed,” he said.

When asked repeatedly from where he received the figure, he said this was “NRC data”.

When asked how he could quote a figure when his government and party (the BJP) have rejected the NRC which was published on August 31, Sarma said he did not want to get into specifics because he had wanted to speak on the unfolding situation.

“I have strict instructions to talk about the prevailing situation and not get into any kind of controversy,” he added.

The NRC has excluded over 19-lakh plus applicants.

Going by the NRC data also means that those left out of the citizens’ list, will now have to apply as “persecuted” refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.