Asserting that there is no need for residents to apply for citizenship again, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that she will not allow even one person to be driven out of the State. “None of the refugees living in the State will lose their citizenship,” she said.
Addressing a rally at Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Ms. Banerjee said Indians hailing from Bangladesh who have voted in elections here are citizens of the country and don’t need to apply afresh for citizenship. “Those who have come to India from Bangladesh are all Indian citizens, they have citizenship. What is the need to give citizenship anew? They have been voting in one election after another, electing Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers, and then it is said that they are not citizens,” Ms. Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister and her party, Trinamool Congress, have been opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act with the slogan ‘Amra Sobai Nagarik’ (we are all citizens).
The TMC chairperson also referred to the Delhi violence in her speech, coming down heavily on the Narendra Modi government for its handling of the situation in Delhi. “So many people have been killed… I will never allow a repeat of the Delhi happenings in Bengal. One should not forget that this is Bengal, not Delhi,” she said.
On Monday, Ms. Banerjee had called the violence in Delhi a “planned genocide”.
