People from various walks of life including civil society members and university students today participated in a rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizen (NRC) and alleged police attack on protesting students of universities in Delhi. Actors Aparna Sen, Kaushik Sen and many other noted personalities participated in the protest march that started from Ramlila Maidan near Moulali crossing and terminated at New Market this afternoon.

Condemning the detention of author and historian Ramachandra Guha, Aparna Sen said, “The whole country is loudly protesting against NRC and CAA. Ours is a subcontinent that has many languages, cultures and ethnicities. It is bound together by the thread of secularism and if that thread breaks, the whole country breaks up. Our movement will continue if the secularism in under attack.” She also said that the voices of protest cannot be subdued by prohibitory orders.

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However, Ms Sen cautioned people against any kind of violent movement and destruction of property and asserted that protest must be held in a peaceful and democratic manner. Ms Sen, along with other participants, carried banners that read ‘No CAA’ and ‘No NRC’. Nearly 500 people participated in this apolitical rally.

Additional buses:

Stranded passengers to and from North Bengal facing difficulties due to disruptions in train services got a respite today, after the state transport department started additional bus services for the northern parts of the state. To provide relief to stranded passengers, 50 additional buses were rolled out today to run from Kolkata to Siliguri.

While for the existing fleet of buses between Kolkata to Malda, 13 more were added. Similar additional services were provided to and from Kolkata to Balurghat, Raigunj and Berhampore. In Murshidabad, 50 buses were additionally operated within the district. Meanwhile, South Eastern Railway also decided to run one trip of a Special train between Santragachi and Silchar tomorrow.

In Eastern Railway also, train movement was restored over Katwa- Ahmedpur section of Howrah Division while speed restrictions imposed earlier were withdrawn. Services of Down Haldibari-Kolkata Express, up Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Darjeeling Mail, Down New Jalpaiguri-Howrah Shatabdi Express and several others were restored.