New Delhi: With public protests against the Narendra Modi government’s decision not to keep Assam out of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill’s ambit refusing to subside even after over a week has passed, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has resorted to a slew of measures through social media to try and break the momentum.
According to sources in the state BJP, the government did expect protests in the state, mainly in the Brahmaputra Valley, based on intelligence inputs. However, it thought that the agitation would fizzle out in a few days’ time.
“We also have the largest network of ground workers, through RSS, in the state now. So we were confident that we will be able to handle the situation and drive public opinion for the Centre’s action. That is the reason state BJP leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the local media that he had not seen any public protest against it. And those doing it are politically motivated. However, the protest is getting bigger and bigger. The public is coming after the state ministers and the chief minister, gheraoing our leaders’ houses, burning their effigies including that of Modiji and Amit Shahji.”
Party sources told The Wire, “The single biggest worry at this time is the Modi-Shinzo Abe summit slated for December 14 in Guwahati. We thought it would have a positive effect on the public. But, along with the rest of the state, Guwahati is witnessing huge processions. Students have blocked various arterial roads of the city. We are increasingly feeling that something has to be done soon.”
It must be mentioned here that yet another international event, the ASEAN car rally, flagged off from Guwahati by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Natwar Singh in November 2004, was disrupted by protests too, led by All Assam Students Union (AASU) like they are now. Those protests were supported by the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), whose members resorted to a dharna in Guwahati then.
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In lieu of a peaceful situation in Guwahati, the AASU could then extract from the Manmohan Singh government the commitment to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 based on the citizenship cut-off date agreed upon through the Assam Accord of 1985.
BJP sources said, “Short video clips are being circulated through WhatsApp across the state where actors have been hired to act as the general public angry with the CAB. Then an elderly and wise person is shown explaining to the angry lot that it is indeed good for the state, highlighting the government’s achievements and also hinting that accepting the Hindu Bangladeshis will help neutralising the changing demography of the state due to rise in Muslim population.”
“The effort is also to highlight the cut-off date of December 31, 2014. Protesters have been saying that all the Hindu Bangladeshis will come to the state with the CAB. But we are saying only those Hindus who came from 1951 to 2014 but don’t have documents will become Indian citizens.”
While the Accord sets the citizenship cut-off date for undocumented migrants from East Pakistan till March 24, 1971, which essentially meant before the birth of Bangladesh, the CAB attempts to give citizenship to those came after the nation was born – from 1971 till 2014 – if they are non-Muslims.
Aside from financing small video clips for WhatsApp, the state BJP’s social media outreach to influence public opinion in the state also includes a set of vlogs. These vloggers, speaking in Assamese, are also being used to discourage the youth from joining the protests. They highlight points like how protesting will affect their education. “The scheduled exams in many universities and other institutes have been postponed already. We want them to highlight how youth lost at least one year of education during Assam agitation.”
Aside from the efforts at the state level, the Centre, on December 10 evening, also put out a set of ‘Myth Busters’ from the official handle of the Press Information Bureau (PIB). Apart of one tweet under the hashtag, the rest were all aimed at an Assamese audience.
Also read: ‘Profoundly Alters India’s Secular Nature’: How Global Media Reacted to the CAB
While the Tripura government banned the internet in the state for 48 hours beginning December 10, keeping in mind the rising protests against the CAB, in Assam too a similar step was expected. However, the state government hasn’t resorted to this and is instead trying to reach out to the public.
Meanwhile in Manipur, government sources in Imphal said the state government, on December 9, issued a circular stating that “as per the instructions of the government of India” “all subordinate officers should celebrate” after Union home minister Amit Shah announces in Lok Sabha that the state would be brought under the Inner Line Permit. The circular, issued by Raghumani Singh, special secretary (home), said to celebrate it “along with photographs of the honourable prime minister and Amit Shah”.
