Joint movement against CAB: No headway after our meeting with Amit Shah on Citizenship Act

AGARTALA: After days of protests, major parts of Tripura limped back to normalcy on Friday. However, Gandacherra in Dhalai and Kanchanpur in North Tripura remained volatile due to 48-hour general strike called by the newly-formed forum Bangali Oikya Manch.
According to reports, sporadic clashes were reported in Gandacherra since Thursday. Section 144 of the CrPC continues to be in effect in the area.Extra security personnel have been deployed there due to the ongoing strike. Sources said miscreants have set ablaze six houses and ransacked 20 other houses in Jagabandhupara area of Gandacherra.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Joint Movement Against CAB (JMAC), BJP ally IPFT, Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman and Tripura state party leader Patal Kanya Jamatia had separate meetings with Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday night over the demand to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
The JMAC leader and senior tribal leader Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal said, “JMAC had detailed discussions with Shah but the talks didn’t generate any hope as Shah told them very clearly that the bill has been passed in both Houses of Parliament and the President has also given his assent. But he assured that the Centre would take care of the interests of the indigenous people of Tripura.”
Hrangkhwal further stated before that before introducing the bill in the Lok Sabha on November 29, Shah had held consultations with them along with other stakeholders of the state. During these meeting, the Union minister was repeatedly requested to keep Tripura and northeast out of the ambit of the bill.
Meanwhile, internet and SMS services remained blocked in the state, causing disruptions to many business establishments. The state is also staring at an impending fuel crisis and shortage of essential commodities because of the protests.
Railway services and vehicular movement between Dharamanagar and Sabroom via Agartala resumed on Friday. However, movement of buses, trucks and train services towards Assam has remained suspended. Indigo has cancelled two flights between Agartala and Guwahati.
Hundreds of train passengers have been stranded in Agartala, Ambassa, Kumarghat and Dharmanagar for the last three days. The hotels in these four towns have not been able to provide accommodation to these stranded passengers.
Meanwhile, more than 150 students staying in hostels at Kailashahar in Unokoti district have rushed to the police station seeking security to return home. The police and local leaders managed to convince the students to stay back and assured them that full security would be provided to them.