The Indian Express : Jan 09, 2020, 01:08 PM
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi could skip the inauguration of the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 in Guwahati on January 10. “We had invited the Prime Minister. Till now, no confirmation has come. But informally, we have been informed that he is not coming,” Avinash Joshi, CEO of Khelo India Games told The Indian Express.The games in Guwahati comes amid protests against the citizenship law. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), a students’ body which has been leading protests against CAA in multiple parts of Assam has warned of huge demonstrations if the PM attends the event.The development comes weeks after the annual India Japan summit scheduled to be held between December 15 and 17, 2019 in Guwahati was cancelled due to the protests. The meeting between Prime Minister Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe was also deferred.Assam has seen protests over the issue for the past two years which escalated after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was introduced and passed in Parliament during the winter session in December last year. At least four people died in alleged police firing while another two died allegedly during violence by miscreants, last month.The Khelo India Games was launched in 2018 to imbibe a culture of sports in the country. The third edition of the event is scheduled to be held from January 10 to 22.