NPR halt plea to states....NPR halt plea to states

TT , 15 Feb 2020, Calcutta: The chief minister on Friday said she would write to other non-BJP state governments, urging them to stop work on the National Population Register, reaffirming her commitment against allowing it in Bengal.

The Bengal chief minister said there was no question of allowing work to resume on the NPR in the state and lambasted the Narendra Modi government again for its citizenship thrusts.

She told the Assembly of her plan to write to other states ruled by non-BJP forces to understand the need to put the exercise on hold.

"The NRC or the NPR will not happen in Bengal. We stopped work on the NPR as soon as we realised what was wrong with it, what they are trying to do to facilitate the NRC. I urge other states to appreciate the seriousness of the matter," she said in the House, during her speech in the discussion on the gubernatorial address ahead of the ongoing budget session.

"If need be, I will write to them. The governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mad- hya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab.... Everybody must understand where they (the Centre) are trying to go with this," she added.

On January 27, Bengal had become the fourth state in the country to have a resolution passed in the Assembly against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the NPR and the nationwide NRC. All parties, except the BJP, joined forces to condemn the law.

"This House has come to know from the media that the honourable Prime Minister has informed that the citizenship legislation will not be used to take away citizenship from any citizen, but the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has no mention of that, effectively creating confusion," read the resolution.

"Therefore, this House, through the state government, demands yet again before the central government that immediate effective steps be taken to repeal the CAA 2019, with provisions of granting Indian citizenship on the basis of religion and race in contradiction to the pluralist structure of the nation, and simultaneously necessary steps to withdraw the NPR and the NRC... it concluded..