WB Citizenship Act row: Rlys vandalized, roads blocked

Protests over the amended Citizenship Act reached the shores of West Bengal on Friday, with agitators resorting to violence and arson at railway stations and thoroughfares across the state, seeking immediate revocation of the law.

People in the minority-dominated districts of rural Howrah, Murshidabad, Birbhum, parts of Burdwan and North Bengal hit the streets in the morning, raising slogans against the Modi government, according to police sources.

Some of them even attacked local BJP workers and leaders, prompting the saffron camp to allege that the attacks were masterminded by the ruling TMC.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged people to maintain peace and warned protesters to refrain from taking law into their hands. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also made a similar plea.

Banerjee, one of the foremost opposition voices against the Citizenship Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), declared the amended law will not be implemented in West Bengal. However, Dhankhar opposed her reluctance and said a person holding a constitutional post cannot oppose a law.

In Murshidabad district, bordering Bangladesh, protesters set fire to Beldanga railway station complex and thrashed RPF personnel deputed there.

"Several parts of the station, RPF kiosks were set on fire and the tracks vandalised. Services have come to a halt here," a senior RPF official said.

In Raghunathganj area of the district, the agitators set vehicles on fire and tore copies of the amended Act. They blocked National Highway-34 and ransacked vehicles and shops.

Several people were injured when their vehicles were pelted with stones.

A huge police contingent was rushed to Beldanga and Raghunathganj to control the situation. The police had to resort to lathicharge in Beldanga to disperse the mob.

Similar incidents were also reported from Uluberia and Diamond Harbour, both minority-dominated areas, as agitators blocked railway tracks and vandalised stations, leaving several passengers stranded during the day.

The affected trains included the 12841 Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express, 22897 Howrah-Digha Kandari Express and suburban locals.

The demonstrators, numbering around 250, obstructed the Up and Down lines at Uluberia station and hurled stones at the stranded trains, injuring a driver, South Eastern Railway spokesman Sanjoy Ghosh said.

The railways has sought adequate forces from the state government to protect the station premises in violence-hit areas of the state.

The anti-Citizenship Act demonstrators also blocked NH-6 and burned tyres and tubes at Uluberia.

With national flags in hands, they gathered at the Uluberia check-post around 2.30 pm and blocked the highway, one of the arterial roads that connect Kolkata with the rest of the country.

Idris Ali, TMC MLA from Uluberia, said he was visiting Kolkata for medical reasons and would take stock of the situation on his return.

"We do not want India to be divided; we want to protect the Constitution. We are in favour of a secular West Bengal and against the amended Citizenship Act and NRC," said Maulana Ghulam Mustafa of the local Boro Masjid, who was leading the agitation in the area.

In Kolkata, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Park Circus seven-point crossing, seeking the revocation of the law. They shouted slogans against the BJP-led government and burnt tyres on the thoroughfare, leading to traffic congestions in the southern and the central parts of the city.

In Kharagpur section, too, railway tracks were blocked, affecting long-distance train services.

Protesters poured out on the streets in Birbhum and East Midnapore, and shouted slogans against the BJP, demanding that the amended Act be immediately scrapped.

In Hoogly's Arambagh area, protesters came down to the streets and ransacked a police vehicle and thrashed a police officer.

West Bengal BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu's car was attacked by the trouble-mongers in Kanthi area of East Midnapore district. According to local sources, Basu, somehow, managed to drive past the area.

A total of 25 express and EMU trains were detained at various stations due to the ongoing violence in the South Eastern section. Around 26 local trains on Howrah-Kharagpur section have also been cancelled. But around 10 PM, train services resumed on Howrah-Kharagpur route.

At Uluberia station, which bore the brunt of the protest, train services resumed but it would take some time to normalize services, railway officials said.

Later, railway officials and police personnel rescued passengers from some of the stranded trains.

Several noted intellectuals of West Bengal Friday appealed to maintain peace and urged people not to take law into their own hands. The Trinamool Congress leadership blamed the central government's "draconian" Citizenship Act as the main reason behind the violence.

The BJP termed the allegations "baseless" and blamed Banerjee for "fuelling protests" in Bengal. It said the CM was trying to instigate people by spreading misinformation.

West Bengal CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra said the violence is being deliberately instigated by both TMC and BJP to communally polarize the politics of Bengal.

President Ram Nath Kovind had on Thursday given his assent to the bill, turning it into an Act.

According to the amended Act, non-Muslim refugees, who escaped religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and moved to India before Dec 31, 2014, will be granted Indian citizenship.