AIZAWL/AGARTALA/IMPHAL, Feb 12: Massive demonstrations and protest rallies
were held in Mizoram and
Tripura on Tuesday against the
Citizenship (Amendment)
Bill, 2016, while in Manipur,
the authorities imposed indefinite curfew in Imphal East and
Imphal West districts in view
of the continued protests.
In MNF-ruled Mizoram,
the powerful NGO Coordination Committee organised
spirited demonstrations in
Aizawl and seven other district headquarters to protest
against the controversial Bill.
Thousands of people took part
in these rallies holding placards and black flags.
Even though ‘Hello China,
Bye Bye India’ placards were
missing this time, they were
replaced by anti-India placards
like ‘Welcome Independent
Republic of Mizoram’, ‘Hello
New Christian Country’, ‘Welcome Independence’.
Former Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, too, joined
the protest in Aizawl and was
seen holding a ‘Hello Independent Republic of Mizoram’. Leaders of all the constituent organisations delivered speeches during the protest rally.
Protest rallies were also
held in BJP-ruled Tripura over
the same issue. Police said no
untoward incidents were reported from any of these two
northeastern states.
Prohibitory orders under
Section 144 CrPC were imposed last night in two Manipur
districts.
Even as the protest
got intensified, the administration clamped curfew in Imphal
as a pre-emptive move to maintain the situation. However,
people defied curfew and staged
protests against the Bill.
The administration also suspended mobile internet services, while security has been
strengthened in the residences of MLAs and ministers, including that of Chief Minister
N Biren Singh, officials said.
In Aizawl, NGO Coordination Committee chairman Vanlalruata said that despite the
protest from almost all political parties and NGOs in the
entire northeastern region and
other parts of the country, the
Union government is keen to
pass the contentious Bill even
in Rajya Sabha.
He urged the people to come
forward in large numbers in
protest against the Bill that is
against the interests of indigenous people of the Northeast.
Special mass prayers are
being held in many churches
in Mizoram since Saturday for
the defeat of the Citizenship
(Amendment) Bill in the Upper House of Parliament. The
ruling MNF in the state also
has been demanding of the
Centre to withdraw the Bill.
Protest rallies, spearheaded
by newly-formed Movement
Against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (MACAB), were
also held in some tribal-dominated areas of Tripura on Tuesday. The main protest rally was
held at Jampuijala in Sepahijala district.
The MACAB is a conglomerate of several NGOs and
four tribal-based parties, including Tripura’s oldest tribal
party Indigenous Nationalist
Party of Tripura (INPT). The
Congress is also backing the
MACAB.
The MACAB and other tribal-based parties, including
Tripura BJP’s ally IPFT (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura), have also been agitating
against the Bill. Major political parties, NGOs and civil society groups are also strongly
opposing the Bill. ~ Assam Tribune
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