New Delhi: The anti-black protocol reached new heights on Tuesday when children as young as three were asked to strip before entering an event being addressed by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

This at a time when a ban has been imposed on wearing black at any public gathering or event being addressed by the prime minister or other senior BJP leaders. The protocol is especially being reinforced in Assam where protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill are heating up.

This rule, however, is now inviting sharp criticism after a video of a mother removing a black jacket of her crying three-year-old child went viral on social media. The video is also being aired by local TV news channels in Assam.

“There is a phobia among the police personnel against the colour black. They even forced a child to remove his black jacket exposing him to cold fearing the black garment may be a sign of protest,” locals said, referring to the black flags being shown to the chief minister, ministers and senior BJP leaders in the last few weeks amid the ongoing protests against the controversial Citizenship Bill.

According to local media reports, security personnel had asked the woman to get rid of her son’s jacket – fearing it was a sign of protest – before entering Sonowal’s function in the state’s Biswanath district

“My three-year-old child was wearing a black-coloured jacket. The security personnel didn’t allow him to enter the meeting venue in it. The security personnel asked me to remove the black jacket”, the mother of the child is heard saying in the video to journalists.

Also read: What Does BJP Have Against Wearing Black?

Many adult male visitors at the chief minister’s programme to lay the foundation stone for an ‘Eri Spun Silk Mill’ are also seen in the video removing their black jackets and woollen pullovers.

They are heard saying, “The security personnel will bar us from entering the meeting venue if we do not remove our black clothes”.

The chief minister has now ordered a probe into the matter. Sonowal has directed Assam director general of police to investigate the incident of the child being forced by security personnel to remove his black jacket and submit his report at the earliest, said a government release.

During Republic Day celebrations on Saturday, security personnel vigorously frisked the public to prevent any of them from carrying any black clothes to the official functions attended by ministers across Assam.

At the central Republic Day function in Guwahati, security personnel from Assam Police politely asked each and everyone if they were carrying black handkerchiefs.

Also read: Citizenship Bill: Legislative Chaos or Amnesia?

“We have been asked to check if anyone carries any black clothes. They are not allowed to carry any black items inside the ground,” an Assam Police constable told PTI, showing a pile of black clothes, handkerchiefs, mufflers, shawls and headbands which were confiscated from the public.

BJP state president Ranjeet Dass, however, denied that the government had issued any such order to the police. “There can’t be any restrictions on people wearing black clothes,” he told Times of India, adding: “I don’t know why the police are doing it. There is no such instruction either from government or party.”

Protests broke out across the state and other parts of the Northeast after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Silchar on January 4 that the contentious Bill would be passed as soon as possible in parliament.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8 seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India even if they do not possess any identity documents.

(With PTI inputs)