Railways property worth Rs 88 Crores damaged in protests against citizenship act: Indian Railways

The Indian Railways declared on Saturday that properties worth Rs 88 crore was damaged in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment act.

It stated that property worth Rs 72 Crore was damaged in Eastern Railway Zone, Rs 13 crore in South Eastern Railway Zone, and Rs 3 crore worth of damages in  NorthEast Frontier Zone.

In Bengal, the railways were the worst hit with the protestors vandalising or setting fire to 19 stations and 20 trains. At least 655 trains had to be cancelled in the state since December 13, The Print reported.

Eastern Railway's (ER) three divisions-Howrah, Sealdah and Malda-were affected badly, with the cancellation of 127 mail/express trains, 190 passenger trains and 290 suburban trains.

48 trains were cancelled, six stations were ransacked and five trains were set on fire in the South-Eastern Railways’ Kharagpur division.

There were incidents of arson, rioting, stone-pelting at different railway stations across the state.

Speaking about the incident at Jadavpur, West Bengal Mamata Banerjee downplayed the violence at the railway stations by saying that these were "small incidents."

“There were some small incidents in some places. But they (central government) almost shut down railway services. People are facing serious problems due to the random cancellation of trains,” Banerjee said.

She said that the Central government was responsible for the protection of railway stations, adding that RPF and other forces under the Centre's command were unable to control the situation.

“It is not our responsibility to protect the railways," she added.  

Mamata Banerjee also blamed the Central Government for cancellation of trains in wake of the violent protests against the CAA at railway stations.

Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has rocked the nation, putting the Centre on the back foot. The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not seem to die down as the people of this country continue to witness violent clashes between the police and the protestors. 

The controversial law promises citizenship to "illegal immigrants" belonging to minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who fled religious persecution in the three countries. 

While critics say that the law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the NRC may be misused to strip away some Muslims' citizenship in the country. 

The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India's Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.