Protests on for 3rd day in N-E
AGARTALA/GUWAHATI: 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), junior ally of the ruli ng BJP, went t o 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.
IPFT Assistant General Secretary and party spokesman Mangal Debbarma told IANS from Delhi that the party delegation led by party general secretary and Tripura Forest and Tribal welfare minister Mevar Kumar
Jamatia would meet Shah on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning and would urge him to withdraw the CAB.
In view of the agitations, examinations in schools, colleges and universities were postponed in Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya.
The influential North East Students’ Organisations (NESO), a conglomerate of eight students and youth bodies, spearheading the agitations against the CAB in the entire northeast region, has said t hat t hey would soon announce their next course of action on the issue.
NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa 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 total success of the 11-hour long strike on Tuesday in the region, only goes to show that the entire northeast is united in spite of the government trying to implement the divide and rule policy,” the statement said.
At least 25 protesters including women and some journalists and television crews were injured in the lathi-charge and clashes in Assam. 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.
Internet services in 10 districts of Assam to be suspended for 24 hours, begi nning 7 pm o n Wednesday, say officials, amid protests over Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
In Tripura, the Joint Movement Against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (JMACAB), a conglomeration of many tribal
NEWDELHI: The Centre on Wednesday airlifted 5,000 paramilitary personnel to Northeastern states, including Assam, for maintenance of law and order duties in wake protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which is being debated in Parliament, officials said.
Nearly 20 companies (2,000 personnel) have been withdrawn from Kashmir, where they had been sent
local and regional parties, NGOS and student and youth organisations of Tripura, led by Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), Tripura’s one of the oldest tribal based parties, held sitin-demonstrations against the CAB in different parts of Tripura on Wednesday. The mobile based internet services remain susprior to the Centre’s decision on August 5 to abrogate Article 370 provisions and split the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
The remaining 30 companies have been withdrawn from other places and rushed to Northeastern states, the officials said.
The troops are from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
pended across Tripura for the second day on Wednesday.
Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb while talking to the media said , “Home minister Amit Shah has already made it clear that with the enforcement of the CAB, no community or individual belonging to northeast region would be affected.”