Tripura: Rail Blockade Staged by Indigenous Party in Protest against CAB

Agartala, December 5, 2019:

Amid the hue-and-cry over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Northeast, members of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), a regional party, have blocked the national highway and railway from Thursday morning with the demand of the Bill's withdrawal.

ALSO READ: Assam: AASU burns effigies of Modi, Shah, and Sonowal; demands withdrawal of CAB

Early in the morning on Thursday, INPT supporters and workers blocked the national highway at Khamting Bari area of Jirania Sub-division. Later, supporters of the party also squatted on the railway line, effectively ceasing operations along the route. INPT supporters sat on the railway line and staged a demonstration with flags, and banners.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up along the national highways and railway in view of the 12-hour blockade called by the INPT in protest against the proposed Bill, which is set to be tabulated within this week.

ALSO READ: Don’t bring NRC again in Assam: Congress MP Abdul Khaleque to Centre

Jagadish Debbarma, the INPT's General Secretary has said that the INPT would continue to oppose the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and these demonstrations on the national highway and railway is the first phase of their agitation in a bid to stall the bill.

"We told Union Home Minister Amit Shah about our strong opposition to the Bill as it will create law and order problem in the entire Northeastern region. In Tripura too, almost all major political parties, except the BJP, are strongly opposed to the Bill", he added.

It may be mentioned here that many student bodies and indigenous organizations across the Northeast are constantly staging protests against the proposed Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from neighboring countries on the grounds of "religious persecution."

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.