Will agitate until CAA, NRC are withdrawn: Bengal CM
KOLKATA MARCH Mamata calls for a wider stir, but tells people not to vandalise property
KOLKATA: After requesting people in Bengal’s Muslim-dominated districts not to burn trains and buses and destroy government property as they protested the passage of the amended citizenship act, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was paying some people to create the unrest so that Muslims could be isolated.
Banerjee was addressing a rally at the end of her first road show against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) where she declared that the mass agitation would continue till the Union government scraps CAA and idea for a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). She dubbed these “kaala kanoon” (dark laws).
Banerjee led a procession in central Kolkata organised by her party the All India Trinamool Congress.
The state-wide stir against CAA entered its fourth day on Monday and was marked by fresh incidents of arson. The BJP countered by taking out pro-caa rallies in Kolkata, and dared Banerjee to prove her allegation.
“We, the Hindus, are with you. If Muslims are in trouble, Hindus will protect them. We don’t divide people. But I am repeatedly requesting you not to set trains, buses and post offices on fire. The Centre has stopped running trains. This is causing immense inconvenience to common people. Students and office-goers are facing trouble. This is tourist season and also a time when marriages take place,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee added that CAA would be implemented only “over her dead body” in the state. She will lead similar processions in south Kolkata and Howrah on Tuesday and Wednesday.
BJP leaders reacted sharply to her allegations. “Banerjee should first tell the people of Bengal how many people have been arrested
and how many police cases were filed in the last three days. We dare her to arrest the perpetrators of violence within 48 hours and prove that they took money from the BJP,” said state BJP