Northeast observes 11-hour bandh as protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill intensifies

The bandh called by the North East Students' Organisation (NESO)- backed by several Left-leaning as well as other political parties including Congress- began at 5 am and will continue till 4 in the evening.

The train services have been disrupted and schools are shut down due to bandh.

Security has been beefed up in five northeast states, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.

Nagaland has been exempted from the bandh due to ongoing Hornbill Festival in the state.

Though the Manipur People Against CAB (Manpac) was protesting against the bill on Monday, it has suspended its stir following Union Home Minister Amit Shah's announcement that people of the state will be brought under the regime of Inner Line Permit (ILP).

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, if passed by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, will grant citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before Dec 31, 2014.

The bill has courted controversy as several opposition parties claim that the CAB violates Article 14- which provides right to equality- of the Constitution.

Several people, who were interacting with various news channels, said they are fearful that refugees will enter their states and pose a threat to their identity.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha with 311 votes in favour of it and 80 members opposing it.

(Image Credit: UNI)