The Tripura United Indigenous Peoples Council (TUIPC), a joint body of 48 surrendered militant outfits, on Sunday called a 50-hours statewide strike demanding scrapping of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
TUIPC convener and former All Tripura Tiger Force chief Ranjit Debbarma told reporters here that they had called the strike across the state to protest against the CAB.
The strike will begin at 6am on Monday and conclude at 8am on Wednesday.
“The Centre is not giving importance to the indigenous people of Tripura and others living in the Northeast. It (BJP) is going to pass the bill in Parliament which will render indigenous people insecure and minority in their own land. If the Centre doesn’t scrap the bill, we will intensify our movement,” he said.
He also said the bill will violate the 1993 peace accord signed between the state government and the outfit.
“The peace accord clearly mentions in Section 2(b) that action would be taken in respect of sending back all illegal foreigners who came to Tripura after March 24, 1971, and are not in possession of the valid a document authorising their presence. The bill will also violate Article 14 of the Constitution. It is totally unconstitutional,” Debbarma said, adding that if the bill was passed, there would be a serious law-and-order problem and that the states could witness return of insurgency.
Debbarma claimed the bill, which aims to grant citizenship on the basis of religion, will destroy the secular fabric of the country.
“It will destroy our identity. The government should call everyone again to hold talks on the issue. The bill cannot stop infiltration and we are not even satisfied by the meeting called by Union home minister Amit Shah. The government should scrap it. If it does not, then protests will intensify,” Debbarma said.