West Bengal: Trains cancelled following protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act

Due to the ongoing disturbance in West Bengal following the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, several trains on Sunday, December 15, were cancelled in the Howrah-Kharagpur railway section of South Eastern Railway.

A total of 15 trains, including the Howrah Express from Tirupati and Ernakulam, were cancelled, while 10 trains, including the Shalimar Express from Tiruvananthapuram, were partially cancelled following the agitation on Sunday, a press release read.  Trains from Puri, Odisha schedules for the day also had to be cancelled.

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West Bengal against CAA

West Bengal witnessed increasing violence against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) since Friday which expanded to more places on Saturday. Angry mobs in various districts torched buses, trains and railway stations, vandalized public property and obstructed roads and railway tracks, bringing the state to a halt. 

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The protests have put railway services in danger. The EMU local train services on the Howrah-Kharagpur section of South Eastern Railway resumed on Saturday evening after remaining stranded for 10 hours. The Eastern Railway has cancelled nine express and four long-distance passenger trains which were scheduled to exercise on Sunday. The South Eastern Railway also cancelled one express along with some passenger trains for the day. Some long-distance passenger trains also faced the same action. 

Mamata Banerjee calls for peaceful protests

In a bid to calm down the violent agitations, West Bengal Chief Minister appealed everyone to maintain the tranquillity. "Once again I appeal to all not to resort to violence and disturb public order, tranquillity, and peace. It must be kept in mind that police stations, railway stations, airports, post offices, government offices, public transport, are public property. Vandalising public as well as private property in any form will not be tolerated and will strictly be dealt according to the law," she said.

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Citizenship (Amendment) Act

The CAB became the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 on November 12, following assent from President Ram Nath Kovind. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

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(With inputs from ANI)