A day after Amit Shah attacked her for spreading disinformation about the Citizenship Amendment Bill inviting her to an open national debate on the issue, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday lashed out at the Union Home Minister for talking big but hesitating to come out with the truth about the CAA.
Banerjee who led an anti-CAA rally in Darjeeling with more than a thousand people referred to Shah’s speech saying “yesterday I heard the Home Minister making tall speeches saying that I am telling lie about CAA and National Population Register… Now if we are lying let him tell the truth to the people. Let him tell whether
CAA is a selective Act which discriminates among people. Let him tell about the conditions mentioned in the NPR. Let him mention whether those who will be granted citizenship will have to live as foreigners for the first five years or not.”
“And if such be the conditions then he will have to say whether the people will lose jobs because aliens cannot work in India… whether the children will lose their school certificates and whether the citizens will lose their rights to property they now own.”
Wondering whether most of the people in the crowd had the date of births of their parents, Banerjee asked, “Do you have date of births of your parents? Is this how a responsible Government works. They do not even the same thing at the same time. In the something they say something and in the evening they other something. They say date of birth is not mandatory. If it is not mandatory, why is it there in the columns?” she added.
Referring how thousands of Nepali speaking people had been banished from the National Citizenship Register, Banerjee said, “People are scared that if CAA and NRC are implemented they will be uprooted. I want to tell the hill people not allow NRC and CAA.”
Referring to the rising inflation and decreasing jobs Banerjee said, “see what they have made of the Indian economy. They promised acchhee din (good days) but where the jobs. Why so many people are unemployed today. Why the farmers are not getting their due and respect. Why Government factories like ordnance factory (in Kolkata) are being shut down… They are selling the country… and to hide these all they are raising the issues of CAA.”
Claiming that in order to turn the attention of the people from grim economic scenario and failed promises she said, “they are setting people of one religion against the other. They are dividing the people to rule but implementing CAA, NRC and NPR,” adding those who are protesting are being termed anti-Indians.
“The students are being beaten up if they raise their voices, the Opposition is harassed by the Agencies (read CBI, ED etc) when they are raising the contentious issues. They are calling them Pakistanis. I want to ask why do you always bringing in Pakistan. Do you have extra love for that country to invoke its name always?” Banerjee asked.
She said the BJP leaders always were foul-mouthing her for protesting against their polices. “I want to tell the BJP that foul-mouthing me all the time will not work. Tell us whether you will withdraw CAA or not. If CAA is not a mischievous Act then why did you leave out Assam and Tripura, the States ruled by BJP? Why are these BJP-ruled states out of the purview of CAA?” There would be no CAA, NRC or NPR in Bengal she insisted.