RS adjourned till February 13 : Little comfort for folks
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 13 2019 -
Rajya Sabha adjourned till February 13 without the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill being tabled.
Interestingly the Upper House was adjourned not for anything to do with the controversial Bill but with an episode involving Samajwadi Party’s leader Akhilesh Yadav at Lucknow airport and the ruckus that followed at the Rajya Sabha.
So does this mean a reprieve of 24 hours for the heckled people of the North East who have been up in arms against the controversial Bill, long before it was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8 ?
The answer will obviously be clear after the said 24 hours, but if what happened here on February 12 is anything to go by then the State can witness ugly developments if the said Bill is indeed passed.
Obviously taking the likely scenario into consideration, the BJP led Government at Imphal went ahead and imposed curfew in the capital city.
Topping off the curfew was the decision of the BJP led Government to suspend mobile internet service from midnight of February 11 and it is clear that the State Government is leaving nothing to chance to minimise whatever damage may be caused if and when the said Bill is passed.
Protesting, no doubt, but ironically discouraging people from venturing out are the number of obstacles put up on the roads all over Imphal.
Reminds one of the numerous instances when people took it upon themselves to discourage free movement of the people when road blocks and burning items are placed plum in the middle of the road.
For those who are in the profession of collecting news and disseminating the same to all, one is instantly reminded of the summer of 2001 when the the words ‘ceasefire without territorial limits’ were inserted in the ceasefire agreement between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India.
There have been many other instances too, like when the demand for a mechanism to check the inflow of non-locals was at its peak sometime in 2015 and 2016 or when the sense of outrage overwhelmed the people after the Chandel incident involving film actress Momoko some years back.
What now ? As the Bill is yet to be withdrawn and just a case of the Rajya Sabha adjourned till tomorrow, one may expect the road blocks, the protests and the curfew to continue for some more time, that is if the Bill is not withdrawn tomorrow or on February 13.
The ground reality says that even if the Bill is not tabled on the floor of the Upper House on February 13 but not withdrawn, one can expect the protests to linger, though its intensity may get diluted.
Troubling time it is and anything may happen but the intention of the BJP led NDA Government at New Delhi is clear.
Chief Minister N Biren and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu are reported to have urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh not to let the Bill be passed in the Rajya Sabha, as per a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat late in the evening of February 11.
This is a line of thought which would have gone down well with the people if only it had come earlier.
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