With the contentious Citizenship (amendment) Bill set to lapse on
June 3 as it was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha which adjourned sine die
on Wednesday, a wave of jubilation swept across northeastern states,
with different political parties claiming credit for the outcome.
Tripura’s ruling ally Indigenous Peoples’ Front of Tripura (IPFT)
spokesperson Mangal Debbarma told reporters that the Bill was not placed
since his party requested Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh not to pass it.
“We requested Home Minister Rajnath Singh not to pass the Citizenship
Amendment Bill. We thank the central government for honouring our
request and not passing it. The entire credit for not passing the Bill
goes to us,” Mangal said.
North East Students Organization (NESO) Joint Secretary Upendra
Debbarma said the Bill was not passed in the Parliament since people
from Northeastern states and other parts of the country supported NESO
wholeheartedly.
“We got results in our favour due to a unified and joint effort of
people from NE India and other parts of the country. We are grateful to
everyone who have supported us,” Upendra Debbarma told media.
Meanwhile, Movement Against Citizenship Amendment Bill (MACAB)
leaders have claimed that their agitation against the controversial
legislation was the reason. MACAB is a joint forum of Congress and
different tribal political parties like Indigenous Nationalist Party of
Twipra (NPT), IPFT Tipraha, National Conference of Tripura (NCT) formed
to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. It held a series of
protests at Khumulwng in West Tripura and Khowai districts.
MACAB leader Dinesh Debbarma, who is also Tripura Pradesh Congress
General Secretary, today told reporters that the organisation would
organise a rally on February 23 in Agartala.
“We thank everybody for supporting us in our movement. We shall
organise a rally in Agartala to express our gratitude. The rally is
likely to be organized on February 23,” Dinesh Debbarma said.
When asked about his reaction on sine die adjournment, CPI (M) state
secretary Goutam Das said progress in the Rajya Sabha was a reflection
of a series of protests held in Northeast India against the Citizenship
Amendment Bill. He congratulated all MPs for the outcome.
CPI (M) MPs Jitendra Chaudhury, Shankar Prasad Dutta and Jharna Das
Baidya opposed the Bill in the Parliament. The trio also boycotted Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tripura on February 09 as a sign of protest against the legislation.
Tripura BJP
spokesperson Dr Ashok Sinha claimed Citizenship Amendment Bill was
“unnecessarily politicised” and claimed most of the agitators were
unaware of the contents of the Bill.
“The Parliament will decide what happens with the Citizenship
Amendment Bill. However, it was unnecessarily politicised unnecessarily.
I am in doubt if those who protested against it are aware of its
contents,” Sinha said.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb told a press conference this
evening that the Citizenship Bill was politicised by certain people.
“Some people are spreading confusion and misleading others. A sense of
distrust has been created amongst people due to this. But my Tripura
will be safe. Chief Minister is there to keep it safe…Please know what’s
in the Bill first. People might be protesting it for political
benefits. Don’t take decision in a hurry,” he said. Biplab also appealed
to people to “identify those spreading rumours”.
Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya, who spearheaded the
entire anti-Citizenship Bill movement in Tripura, today said on Facebook Live that sine die adjournment of Rajya Sabha session without placing the Bill proved that people won over politics.
“Jati Jeeta Hain, Party Haara Hain (Jati has won and party has lost).
But we have to be cautious. If they are elected again, the central
government might try to bring it back through backdoor,” he said.
