Former Assam chief minister and AGP founder president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta on Monday slammed the government for suspending mobile Internet services in the state in a bid to control the protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

He also held the Assam government responsible for disrupting the citizenship issue by not opposing the act.

With the mobile Internet suspended for the fifth consecutive day, the former two-time chief minister said the government was scared of the people’s movement.

“To put a ban on freedom of expression is unfortunate. The government is scared and has put a ban on the electronic medium of communication. But do remember that even during the freedom movement, though there were no Internet or any such system, people came out together in huge numbers. So, you cannot stop the movement of the people,” Mahanta told reporters.

He termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet, congratulating the people of Assam on passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, as ridiculous, saying that the Prime Minister was not aware of the widespread protests across the state.

“As a Prime Minister he should be getting all the reports about what is happening in the state. But, in spite of that, his tweet of congratulating the people is ridiculous,” Mahanta said.

Mahanta, who has been vocal against the act ever since it was initiated as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, said the citizenship issue was about to be solved with the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) but the state government disrupted the entire process.

“First they (the state government) didn’t ‘approve’ of the NRC while the Centre welcomed it. Now, with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, they are welcoming more migrants from other countries. If other states can oppose the act, why can’t the Assam government?” Mahanta asked.

He said Clause 6B of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act mentions that migrants (of six communities) from the neighbouring countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan) need not submit any documents while applying for citizenship, which would encourage more “foreigners”.

Mahanta clarified that the fight against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was not against Bengalis but illegal migration.

“The Bengali people who have been living here are already part of the Assamese society. It’s not against them,” he added.

Unlike his party colleagues, Mahanta said it was unfortunate that the AGP voted in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

He also sought a special Assembly session to discuss the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Earlier, the Congress and the AIUDF had also sought a special Assembly session.