Mamata Banerjee says 'Our slogan is 'No CAB, No NRC in West Bengal'

The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, during a rally in Jadavpur, accused the ruling BJP of passing the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) without consultation in Parliament. She also reiterated that the NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not be implemented in the state. She also termed the action by the police in the Jamia Millia University as “intolerable” and alleged the police of brutally torturing the innocent students. 

Mamata Banerjee on NRC and CAA 

Talking about the newly passed CAA and NRC, the West Bengal CM at a rally in Jadavpur said, “Our slogan is No CAB, No NRC in Bengal”. "The Bill was passed in the Parliament without any consultation. You cannot make out the religion of a person through their dress. There is no end to conspiracies by the BJP. They discreetly light fires in the country. If you come across such fires, douse them immediately. We will not initiate violence," she added. 

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Banerjee also asked the protesters in the state to create batches reading the slogan 'No CAB, No NRC'. She asked them to emphasize on the protest against the amended citizenship law and the proposed NRC exercise. Previously, Mamata Banerjee also headed a protest march in Kolkata against the CAA and the NRC on Monday.  

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The Citizenship Amendment Act  

The Act seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. Moreover, they will not be considered as illegal migrants.  

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Additionally, the mandatory residence period for naturalised citizenship for these communities would be reduced to 6 years. Several parties in the North East such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) have been vehemently opposed to this Act. To ameliorate their concerns, the Centre has exempted a major part of the North East from the ambit of the CAA. The opposition contends that the Bill discriminates on the basis of religion, which might go against Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality.    

(With ANI Inputs)

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