Shutdown against citizenship bill in Tripura's tribal council

Normal life was partially affected by the dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by the Tipraland State Party (TSP) on Monday, demanding scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Bill and a separate state by carving out the tribal council area. Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), where the shutdown was observed, constitute two third of the state's territory and is the home to tribals, who form one-third of its population.

Most of the markets were closed, attendances in government offices, financial institutions and banks were thin and schools and colleges in many parts remained shut. Private buses and auto-rickshaws remained off-roads in most of the areas.

Bandh supporters were seen picketing on the roads with banners and flags. TSP President Chittaranjan Debbarma claimed the bandh was successful.

"Tripura is a victim of partition. After partition thousands of people from then east Pakistan (now, Bangaldesh) had migrated to Tripura and outnumbered the local tribals. If CAB is passed in Parliament, more people would legally settle in the state and the tribals would be completely marginalised. We want a separate Tipraland to protect ourselves," he said.

"Many national parties like the CPI(M) and the Congress have also opposed the bill but no one protested against it," Debbarma added. The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the ruling BJP, staged a dawn-to-dusk sit-in demonstration in 33 different parts of the tribal council area, demanding scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Bill and Tipraland.

"Our main demand is scrapping of Citizenship Amendment Bill and secure Tipraland. We also want NRC to be implemented in the state as soon as possible," said IPFT general secretary Mevar Kumar Jamaita, who is also the state forest minister. Police said no untoward incidents were reported from any part of the state.

"We have deployed police, state paramilitary Tripura State Rifle and CRPF jawans across the TTAADC to maintain the law and order situation. The strike was peaceful," said Subrata Chakraborty, Additional Inspector of General (Law and Order)..

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