Mamata slams BJP for ‘exploiting’ CAA-NRC issue for political gain: ‘We are Indian citizens’

She alleged that the BJP’s agenda behind raising the citizenship issue was to “divide people” on religious lines. “They want to divide people. They want to give citizenship to someone and deny others. If one community is getting citizenship, the other community should also get it. This discrimination is wrong. We are against this discrimination,” she added.

The TMC chief remarks follow senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in Kolkata on Tuesday in which he said that no one can prevent the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act [CAA] as it is the law of the land.

The CAA was passed by Parliament in 2019.

During a visit to the state last month, Shah had said that the BJP-led Central government will implement the CAA and NRC (National Register of Citizens).

The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who had entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Highlighting the TMC government’s initiative to grant land rights to those who came from Bangladesh in 1971 and later, Banerjee stressed that by doing so, people residing in refugee colonies don’t continue to live as refugees. “Our (TMC) government always thinks about the refugee population. We are giving land pattas to refugees so that they can have permanent addresses,” she added.

With North 24 Parganas district dominated by the Matua community, which migrated to West Bengal since the 1950s, primarily due to religious persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan and then Bangladesh, the chief minister said: “The TMC government always thinks about the development of the Matua community… But BJP leaders visit Matua Thakurbari (headquarters of the sect) only during elections… Now, the BJP will campaign and make false promises before the Lok Sabha elections.”

“Religion and politics are different. We love all religions. But remember, West Bengal must be kept in the hands of TMC. Because, if we get fewer seats, then the atrocities of BJP will increase, as you have seen their atrocities through NRC and CAA already,” she added.

Banerjee also said that the TMC, which is part of the Opposition bloc INDIA, will lead the fight against the BJP in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha elections.

“The CPI(M), BJP, and the Congress have forged an alliance in West Bengal and are actively campaigning against us. The INDIA opposition alliance will confront the BJP nationwide, with the TMC spearheading the battle in West Bengal,” she added.

With PTI Inputs