Having repeatedly expressed her strong reservations against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday once again raked up the issue to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to members of the press, the West Bengal Chief Minister said that the NRC should not be made into a question about Hindus and Muslims but that it is regarding the crucial aspect of citizenship. “BJP leaders are thumping their chest to justify this NRC. The issue is not about Hindu or Muslim. It is about citizenship,” she said. “People have been left out because of their language.”
This is hardly the first time that Mamata has attacked NRC or used it to launch a scathing attack on BJP. Previously, she had said that NRC would result in civil war in the country and would result in bloodbath. Her comment was widely criticised and a number of FIRs were filed against her for it.
The BJP has countered Mamata with equal intensity with party president Amit Shah accusing her of playing vote-bank politics. “Mamata Banerjee had put up protests across Delhi a few days ago against NRC. What is she scared of? Let me tell you what NRC is. It is a process to identify infiltrators and Bangladeshi nationals staying in Assam illegally,” he said at a rally in Kolkata last week. “Given a chance, we will bring NRC in West Bengal too. How did her stand change? In 2005 she raised her voice against Bangladeshis by throwing papers at the speaker in Parliament and now in 2018 she is supporting them? Bangladeshis are her vote bank.”
(Also read: Mamata calls BJP a party of hooligans, challenges it to implement NRC in Bengal)
NRC has been a heated topic of debate – and of accusations – after the second and final draft was released last month and left out nearly 40 lakh people. While the BJP said that it is a draft and not final, and that people can appeal, several opposition parties flayed the entire process despite it being conducted under Supreme Court’s supervision.
Source: Zee News