Bharat Bandh call evokes mixed response in Bhojpur

Kumar Rajiv Nayan

Ara : Bharat bandh called by Bheem Army and supported by the RJD,  All India Students Association (AISA), Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), CPI(ML), against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NRC, and NPR, evoked mixed response in Bhojpur district on February 23, 2020.

Hundreds of activists of Bheem Army and others took out procession that passed through the main thoroughfares of Ara  town and reached Ara railway station where they stopped 13201 Lakmanya-Patna express at Platform No 1 by boarding the engine of the train under the leadership of CPI(ML) MLA from Tarari Sudama Prasad for about half an hour though Bhojpur district administration had deputed heavy police force at the railway station.

The bandh supporters raised slogans against the Central government and PM Narendra Modi. They also squatted on railway track at Easter Railway Crossing  paralysing movement of trains. A number of long distance trains remained stranded at different railway stations under Danapur Division of East Central Railway (ECR), Hajipur. The bandh supporters paraded through the main thoroughfares of Ara town forcing the shopkeepers and traders to down their shutters. Almost all the shops remained closed. The bandh supporters also blocked roads near Ara-Sasaram, Ara-Patna and Ara-Bhabhua main roads near Ara bus stand since morning.

The activists of the Jan Adhikar Party blocked Ara-Sasaram main road near Dhobighatawa by burning tyres on road paralysing movement of vehicles.