Mamata Banerjee vows to not allow saffron regime’s contentious citizenship matrix in Bengal

Will ensure nobody's rights are taken away: CM

Mamata Banerjee at the government programme in Habra, North 24-Parganas district, on Tuesday: PTI

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, TT, Calcutta, 13.03.24 : Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday vowed that she wouldn’t allow the saffron regime’s contentious citizenship matrix in Bengal and asserted her willingness to sacrifice her life for the cause.

The Bengal chief minister pulled no punches in her attack on the BJP in two speeches delivered at Habra and Siliguri during the day.

“This is a conspiracy to snatch citizenship rights. The CAA rules, I went through them… I doubt if they are legal. There is no clarity…. The CAA and its rules are unconstitutional and discriminatory under Article 14 of the Constitution,” said Mamata at a state government event in Habra, North 24-Parganas, in the afternoon. She repeatedly said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was essentially a precursor to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“What I can do is ensure nobody’s rights are taken away in Bengal. In other states (ruled by non-BJP parties), they will have to take responsibility. If we ever get an opportunity nationally, we will not allow this law to be implemented (across the country),” she added, prompting the BJP to deploy a cohort of senior state leaders and spokespersons to accuse her of deliberate misinformation, claiming the CAA was to give — not take away — citizenship, staying mostly silent on the NRC concerns.

On Monday, shortly before the notification by the Union home ministry under Amit Shah, Mamata held a media conference at state secretariat Nabanna, promising a thorough response with clarity on the Trinamul Congress’s stand on the matter in her Habra address.

“It is a campaign designed to mislead. They want to play war games before the elections, akin to what happened before 2019… nothing but a pre-poll gimmick,” she added at Habra, repeatedly calling it “draconian”, and demanded the scrapping of the law in her address at Siliguri. “As long as we are here, there will be no detention camps in Bengal. If needed, I will give my life for this, but I will not allow our people’s rights to be taken away.”

Mamata, who had spearheaded the fierce anti-citizenship tripod protests till the pandemic struck, asked why the Centre waited over four years for its implementation and alleged that was yet another “BJP jumla (means a figure of speech, but now considered synonymous with gimmickry)”. She also voiced concerns about its impact in the Northeast.

“The people who are being urged to apply (for citizenship) will become illegal citizens as soon as they do. This is the BJP’s game…. Remember this is related to the NRC and people will be taken away to detention camps,” said the Trinamul chief.

“Signing up for this means those people are accepting that they entered the country illegally, which would result in a seizure of assets… what happens to their jobs? I will not let anyone be expelled from Bengal, and will give protection to everyone.”

“The choice of the day to implement the CAA was made intentionally, as the (Islamic holy month of) Ramzan began. The BJP’s game plan is to pitch Hindus against Hindus, and Muslims against Muslims…. All Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came after 2014 will also become illegal immigrants,” said Mamata, wondering why the religious minorities — non-Muslim — of other Indian neighbours, such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar, were outside the ambit.

The chief minister said there was no clarity on how the caste reservations would be applied to immigrants who had already received caste reservation benefits.