N- E on boil over Citizenship Bill
Shops, business establishments, institutions shut in Nagaland
The ongoing protest continues to rock the northeastern states with normal life coming to a standstill in Nagaland on Monday following a dawn- to- dusk shutdown called in protest against the Citizenship ( Amendment) Bill, 2016.
The bandh was called jointly by the coordination committee of tribal hohos ( associations), civil society organisations, various committees, and massbased organisations under the aegis of the Nagaland Gaon Burhas Federation ( NGBF).
The busy roads in state capital Kohima and the commercial town of Dimapur wore a deserted look despite the Nagaland government’s appeal to reconsider the shutdown.
Shops, business establishments, and educational institutions remained closed and vehicular traffic in all 11 districts was suspended.
The Opposition, Naga People’s Front, backed the shutdown.
It is significant that even the state Cabinet of the Nagaland government headed by chief minister Neiphiu Rio has rejected the citizenship bill, which was passed on January 8.
Nagaland chief secretary and finance commissioner Temjen Toy said that the state government will propose the adoption of a resolution to oppose the bill in the forthcoming Budget session, scheduled to be held on February 21, as decided during the January 31 consultative meeting held in Dimapur.
Meanwhile, protest against the citizenship bill continued in neighbouring Manipur and Mizoram, where civil society groups have been spearheading agitation continuously for the last one week.
Hundreds of female vendors from the four women’s markets in the Imphal city have been staging a sit- in protest in the main market complex. They have refused to return home.