In a blistering attack on Narendra Modi for “frequently invoking Pakistan as a diversionary tactic from major issues of unemployment, price rise and people’s rights” Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the Prime Minister was conducting himself as though he was an “ambassador of Pakistan.”
Launching her first citizenship rally in North Bengal city of Siliguri the Chief Minister told a massive turnout of humanity how “India wants to listen about Hindustan and not Pakistan.”
She said “we are Indian citizens and we do not want to listen about Pakistan which is a small country of only 22 crore people… Whenever the people of India raise questions about unemployment, inflation and hunger you start talking about Pakistan. By doing so you only glorify an insignificant country … I want to ask you: Are you the Prime Minister of India or the Ambassador of Pakistan? Why do you always glorify that country?
“We don’t want to listen about Pakistan. Tell us about Hindustan,” Banerjee thundered from the head of an “unexpectedly big” rally — considering the fact that the Trinamool Congress had in the April-May parliamentary elections conceded 7 out of 8 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP from this part of the State.
Going all guns blazing the Chief Minister targeted both the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah for “making contradictory statements” on the amended citizenship laws saying “who is to be believed when one person says National Citizenship Register was never discussed in the Government level while the other says NRC will definitely be invoked.”
She said “it is a shame that even after 70 years of Independence, we have to prove our citizenship,” adding “till she was at the helm “I will not allow anyone to take away the rights of the Indian people… There will be no CAA, no NRC, no NPR in Bengal.”
The Prime Minister had earlier attacked the opposition parties for protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act but not raising their voices against Pakistan which was formed on the basis of religion and where the minorities like the Hindus were subjected untold persecution so that “they are forced to migrate to India.”
Giving a sharp reply the Chief Minister wanted to know whether Modi had forgotten about India. “Have you (Prime Minister) forgotten about
India that you need to talk about Pakistan regularly? We are a big country with a rich cultural heritage. We do we have to be compared with Pakistan so regularly?” Banerjee asked.
Asking all the parties to come together to protest against CAA-NRC Banerjee said “today if you do not come out in protest, then these people will destroy Hindustan, will destroy Azadi (freedom). Our religion is to protect our Azadi, our tradition,” appealing to the Opposition parties to consider the present movement as “our second fight for Azadi.”
Meanwhile, the Left Front leaders on Friday asked the Chief Minister to call an all-party meeting on the CAA-NRC issue. CPI(M)’s legislature party leader Sujan Chakrabarty said “we have no problem to join an all-party meeting but the Chief Minister has to call that at first.”
He was reacting to a reported letter from State Opposition Leader Abdul Mannan of the Congress Party to the Chief Minister suggesting an all-party meeting and an all-party movement against the CAA-NRC.