Anti CAB agitation in Northeast continued for third day affecting normal life. Mob internet services suspended in Tripura. Exams postponed in Assam, Tripura etc
Agartala/Guwahati, December 11, 2019 (IANS) Agitations in northeast India against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill continued for the third consecutive day on Wednesday with various parties and NGOs including the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) urged the central government to “respect the sentiments of the people of the region”.
A six-member delegation of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a junior ally of the ruling BJP, went to Delhi on Wednesday to hold an urgent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the contentious Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The mobile-based internet services remain suspended across Tripura for the second day on Wednesday. Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPc have been promulgated in some parts of West Tripura, especially in Sepahijala, Dhalai and North Tripura districts after Tuesday’s violence, clashes and attacks.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb while talking to the media said that the agitations against the CAB are unnecessary and against the development of Tripura. “Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already made it clear that with the enforcement of the CAB, no community or individual belonging to the northeast region would be affected,” said Deb, who also holds the home portfolio.
In view of the agitations, examinations in schools, colleges, and universities were postponed in Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.
The Northeast Frontier Railway, which operates trains in some parts of Bihar and West Bengal besides entire northeastern region, either canceled or rescheduled many trains including Humsafar Express and Kanchanjunga Express.
NESO Chairman Samuel B. Jyrw and General Secretary Sinam Prakash Singh in a joint statement said that in spite of the widespread protests in the entire northeast India, the government has passed this bill in the Lok Sabha and is trying to pass it in the Rajya Sabha as well.
“That only goes to show that the government of India has no regard for the indigenous people of the region,” the statement said.
In Assam, protests erupted in different parts of the BJP-ruled state on Wednesday with the security forces resorting to lathi-charge in Dispur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Jorhat to disperse the protesters.
At least 25 protesters including women and some journalists and television crews were injured in the lathi-charge and clashes. The agitators are mostly youths and students.
Normal life in many parts of Assam was badly affected due to the agitations and cancellations of many trains and buses besides shutting down of shops and business establishments.
Though the senior police officials claimed that the situation in most parts of Assam is under control, huge tension is prevailing in Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Dispur and other places of the state.
A large contingent of police and central para-military forces led by senior police officials were deployed to deal with the situations.
