Assam bandh: Protestors squat on tracks, burn tyres
Guwahati, Oct 23 : Protestors Tuesday tried to put up blockades on railway tracks and disrupt train services across Assam as part of the 12-hour state-wide bandh called by 46 organisations against the Citizenship Bill.
Police officials said here that the demonstrators, who were trying to prevent train movement by squatting on tracks, were being evicted. Demonstrators also burnt tyres on roads in various places of the state.
Police escorts were being provided to public transport vehicles to ensure transport services functioned normally during the bandh.
The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and 44 organisations have called the 12-hour bandh to protest against the Centre's bid to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the Winter Session of Parliament.
Political parties, including the Congress and the AIUDF, have extended their support to the bandh in the interest of Assam and its indigenous people.
All district magistrates and superintendents of police had been instructed by the BJP government in the state to take measures to maintain public utility services in view of the bandh call.
A government communique in this regard had said that necessary pre-emptive and preventive measures to thwart the bandh call must be taken in view of the judgement of the Gauhati High Court.
The deputy commissioners of respective districts had issued orders that all government officials should attend to their duties.
It also said that shops, business establishments, educational institutions should remain open and transport facilities should function normally.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.
State Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Monday that the Gauhati High Court had ruled that calling a bandh was an illegal act and so the statewide bandh called by 46 organisations on Tuesday cannot be allowed as it will amount to contempt of court.
KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said this was the first time that they had called a bandh and they would not call it off as the very "existence of Assamese and their identity was at stake by the Bill".
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
