KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed panic surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue and talk of it being implemented in Bengal in the saffron quarters has resulted in the death of six persons in the state.
She held the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responsible for the deaths.
Also, in her first reaction to last week’s ruckus at Jadavpur University, during which Union Minister Babul Surpiyo was allegedly heckled and detained, the chief minister stood by the accused Leftwing students and had a go at the BJP MP without taking his name.
“People saw what he (Supriyo) did on campus. You may hoodwink people but not every time,” she said.
Claiming that the NRC will not be implemented in Bengal while addressing a meeting of trade unions in Kolkata, Mamata said, “It is because of the Assam Accord that NRC was implemented in the northeastern state. Fear and panic around NRC has already resulted in six deaths in Bengal. But rest assured, I will never allow a similar exercise here.”
“People have already started queuing up in government offices to collect documents attesting to their citizenship. I urge people not to panic,” she said, adding that talk of NRC implementation has resulted in the death of six persons.
NRC in Assam in 3-4 months: Sarma
BJP’s face in the Northeast and Assam’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 would be passed in Parliament in “three to four” months.
He also said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) would be updated again.
“Protecting every Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Jain (immigrant) and giving them citizenship is a duty of the
BJP. The BJP will fulfil it,” Sarma said at a rally.