West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday claimed that three to four people are dying by suicide everyday in the state, due to anxiety over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Pegging the total number of deaths at over 110, the CM asserted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP-led Centre should take responsibility for the deaths caused allegedly due to anxiety and stress over the SIR.
Speaking at an event on the occassion of the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose at the Red Road in Kolkata, Mamata said, "More than 110 people have already died; everyday three to four people are dying by suicide out of SIR anxiety...40 to 45 more people are fighting for their lives in hospitals. After all these years, we have to prove whether we are citizens of this country?" the CM said.
"People's rights are being taken away, and democracy is being crushed," she said, asking on a sarcastic note whether Bose would have been summoned for an SIR hearing in the name of logical discrepancy had he been alive, and "questioned about his Indian citizenship."
More than 58 lakh voters were deleted from the draft rolls published in December last year, after the initial phase of SIR in the state. Out of the 7.6 crore total voters, the EC has also raised speculation regarding the "genuineness" of about 1.66 crore voters, who have been called for hearing to verify their documents again.
Noting that Bengalis spell their surnames in different ways, giving her own example that her surname is spelt as both Banerjee and Bandopadhyay, Banerjee wondered why "this is not known by those conducting the SIR exercise."
"On account of such mismatches, 1.38 crore people have been given notice," the CM said.
Mamata also claimed that elderly people were made to come for the SIR hearings, and questioned why celebrated economist Amartya Sen was sent a notice in this regard.
Targeting the BJP, Mamata accused the saffron party of conspiring against Bengal, and claimed that icons of the country like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Bose, B R Ambedkar and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar were being insulted.
"We are noticing that attempts are being made to distort the history of India...Insult, intolerance, ingratitude towards them and an affront towards language; all these lie ahead of us," she alleged.
She accused the central government of having abolished the Planning Commission, "which was envisaged by Subhas Chandra Bose", and replacing it with the Niti Aayog.
It is unfortunate that Bose's birthday has not yet been declared a national holiday, she added.
She said that dreams of the country's icons are being "broken to pieces", alleging that the saffron brigade's version of history was forced upon people.
"This has no relation to the history of the country," Mamata said.
She also alleged that the BJP's top leadership use teleprompters to say a few words in Bengali during their speeches before elections, and "insult the intelligentsia of Bengal by doing so."
Asserting that humanity is having to fight against inhumanity today, she said, "We are battling against the Kauravas", drawing a parallel with the clash between good and evil in the epic Mahabharata.
Referring to Bose's famous slogan 'Dilli Chalo' (March to Delhi), Banerjee said it should be raised once again to "re-establish humanity."
(With inputs from PTI)