Agartala, December 10: Tripura is on the boil for the past few days as protests over the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 refuses to die down. The administration today, on Tuesday, shut down the internet and SMS services in Tripura for 48 hours on Tuesday as protests intensified further in the state. Scores of people including women in Agartala city on Tuesday launched a large scale protest against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday. Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 Passed by Lok Sabha After Heated Debate.

The North-East states in India have seen intense protests over the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019. Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, while speaking in the Lok Sabha at the time of replying to the members on CAB debate, had reiterated his stand and said that the BJP government will not even touch Article 371 and that the North-East states need not worry. Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 to Be Tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday at 2 PM.

Demonstrators raised slogans against the central government and demanded to keep the state out of the purview of the Bill. Speaking to ANI, one of the protestors said, “We do not want this Bill to be implemented here. It is against our right.”

Another agitated protestor said, “We are already in the minority and now we do not want people from other countries to settle down here.”The protesters were heard sloganeering against the Bill and were also seen holding placards with the slogans ‘Tripura should be kept out of the purview’ and ‘We are against CAB 2109’ to send out a message to the Centre that they are against it.

The Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to refugees from the Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday. Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Bill with a majority of 311 votes against 80 votes in the Lower House where 391 members were present and voted. The cut-off date for getting citizenship under the bill is December 31, 2014. In the Rajya Sabha, the Modi government requires the support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member House to pass the bill.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 10, 2019 05:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).