The 12-hour Assam bandh called by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal’s state unit on Friday over “non-inclusion of Hindus in the final National Register of Citizens” hit life in Dibrugarh district of Upper Assam.

Business establishments and offices were shut though private vehicles plied as usual. The group’s activists burnt tyres and chanted “Jai Shri Ram”. They shouted slogans against NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela and urged the government to include all Hindus in the final list.

“We are protesting against the non-inclusion of Hindus in the final NRC. We demand that all Hindus, who came to India following persecution in Bangladesh, be included in the final list. Illegal Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, who figured in the NRC, should be excluded. We are not happy with the final list. The BJP government promised many things but failed to fulfil them,” an activist said.

The group’s Dibrugrah district president Abijit Bajrangi said, “We are disappointed with the final NRC as many Hindus were left out. We suspect foul play in the update process. It’s a ploy to exclude the names of Hindus from the NRC and include those of Bangladeshi Muslims.”

Over 19 lakh people from different communities living in Assam have been left out of the final NRC.

The group demanded a fresh register of citizens with 1951 as the cut-off year. The cut-off year for inclusion in the final NRC, updated only in Assam under the Supreme Court’s monitoring, is March 25, 1971, as stated in the Assam Accord which was signed following a six-year-long Assam Agitation to detect and deport “foreigners”.

“We demand the names of all excluded indigenous people of the state to be immediately included in the NRC. We want a Bangladeshi-free Assam,” the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal said in a statement.

The bandh’s effect was also partially felt in Barak Valley in south Assam. Towns in Barak Valley looked deserted with passenger vehicles keeping off the roads. Activists blocked the road at Rangirkhari in Silchar town but it was lifted by police. No untoward incident was reported.

As confusion prevailed over who had called the bandh, Vishva Hindu Parishad spokesperson in Silchar, Swapan Suklabaidya, said they had not. “We are not in favour of bandh and have full faith in the government,” he said.

In Hojai district in central Assam, the bandh’s impact was partial. Banks and some markets remained closed but government offices, schools and colleges functioned normally. Vehicles also plied on the roads.

In Guwahati, there were mixed reactions. Government offices, schools, colleges and other educational institutions remained open. Train services were normal too.

The group’s Assam unit president, Nilavjyoti Das, said, “The bandh was 100 per cent successful.”

Over 300 workers of the group were detained by police during the bandh.

Additional reporting by Satananda Bhattacharjee in Hailakandi, Nikhil Kumar Mundra in Hojai and Abinash Kalita in Guwahati