KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress Chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP-led Assam Government of trying to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the State. She has called all the Opposition parties to unite against “BJP’s divisive and oppressive machinery”.
Taking to X on Tuesday morning, Banerjee said that Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar in North Bengal was being harassed on suspicion of being a 'foreigner/illegal migrant', despite furnishing valid identity documents.
“I am shocked and deeply disturbed to learn that the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam has issued an NRC notice to Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a Rajbanshi, resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar for over 50 years,” she wrote on X.
Refuting her allegation, BJP leader Jagannath Chattopadhyay said, “False narrative being peddled by @MamataOfficial regarding an alleged notice issued by one FRO court from Assam.”
“But the fact of the matter is @CMOfficeAssam has already taken a decision to keep Koch-Rajbangshi out of the NRC process, rather the State cabinet took firm stand to withdraw all pending cases against the Koch-Rajbangshi community as far as NRC is concerned,” he added.
Samirul Islam, a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Workers Welfare Board, had spoken out on Monday on the issue.
In a post on social media, he alleged that the BJP government of Assam has sent an NRC notice to Brajabasi, a resident of Cooch Behar. Islam showed the document and said that Brajabasi's name was first registered in the voter list in 1966. He questioned how the Assam government sent an NRC notice to that person even after that.
After Islam, Banerjee herself has slammed the BJP government in Assam led by Himanta Biswa Sarma on the issue.
She alleged, “This is nothing short of a systematic assault on democracy. It is proof that the ruling BJP dispensation in Assam is attempting to implement NRC in Bengal, where it holds no power or jurisdiction. A premeditated attempt is being made to intimidate, disenfranchise, and target marginalised communities.”
“This unconstitutional overreach is anti-people, and exposes BJP’s dangerous agenda of bulldozing democratic safeguards and erasing the identity of Bengal's people,” Banerjee added.
She urged all opposition parties to come forward and stay united against the BJP.
“This alarming situation calls for urgent unity among all Opposition parties to stand up against the BJP’s divisive and oppressive machinery. Bengal will not stand by as the constitutional fabric of India is torn apart,” Banerjee said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal minister and Dinhata’s Trinamool strongman Udayan Guha said that Brajabasi was a Rajbangshi and the Assam police had no right to issue him a notice.
“He is an Indian citizen. Those who had moved to India before 1971 should not have to go through such problems,” Guha added.