India without Muslims unthinkable Out of the 19 lakh people left out of the NRC in the eastern state, around 12 lakh are believed to be Hindus

TMC supporters and activists participate in a rally led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vowing not to allow the proposed country-wide NRC and the amended Citizenship Act in West Bengal, Kolkata, on December 16, 2019. PTI

Subhajoy Roy, TT, 17.12.19, Calcutta: A 60-year-old man, whose daughter quit her job in Assam “as she was unable to deal with the tension there”, walked in the march against Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Monday.

The Bansdroni resident was walking alone. He was not raising any slogan but was as determined as others to oppose the act, more so because of his daughter’s plight.

“My daughter had a central government job in a city in Assam. But she quit recently and returned home. She told me she was unable to deal

with the tension there because the local people were gradually becoming suspicious of all Bengalis,” said the distraught father who did not want to be named.

“I have witnessed what divisive politics can do and that is why I am walking in today’s rally,” he said.

“Thinking of an India without Muslims”, he said, was impossible for him.

The act grants citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 2014.

It will enable the 12 lakh-odd Hindus who have been excluded from the National Register for Citizens in Assam to get Indian citizenship.

Out of the 19 lakh people left out of the NRC in the eastern state, around 12 lakh are believed to be Hindus.