BJP can't bulldoze states to implement amended Citizenship

Lashing out at the BJP-led Centre over the amended Citizenship Act, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she would not allow its implementation in the state "under any circumstances". Addressing a press meet here, Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress supremo, said the saffron party would not be able to bulldoze the states to enact the law.

Rebuffing her assertion, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, however, alleged that the CM was supporting the infiltrators to "secure her vote bank". Announcing a series of protests next week, the chief minister said she would hit the streets seeking revocation of the "draconian" Act.

Expressing solidarity with the people of Assam and the Northeast, where violent protests have been raging over the issue for the past few days, she blamed the BJP government at the Centre for the growing tension and the deteriorating law and order situation in the region. "We will never allow NRC exercise and Citizenship Act in Bengal. We will not implement the amended Act, even though it has been passed in Parliament. The BJP can't just bulldoze the states to implement it," Banerjee said.

Iterating that her fight against the amended Act was the "second war of independence", the CM also stressed that her government would not cooperate with the Centre for enacting the "divisive" law. "In a democracy, even if you have majority in terms of numbers in Parliament, it doesn't mean you can impose your views. The essence of democracy lies in building consensus, taking everybody along," she asserted.

Banerjee also said she had cancelled her visit to Delhi to attend a meeting on the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, as a mark of protest. "The Citizenship Act will divide India. As long as we are in power, not a single person in the state will have to leave the country," she asserted.

Taking a dig at her counterpart in BJP-ruled Tripura, the TMC supremo said Biplab Deb should also make public his citizenship documents. Speculation over the Tripura CM's birthplace was rife during the NRC exercise in Assam, with a section of people claiming that he was born in Bangladesh. Deb had later clarified that India was his birthplace.

"India has had so many prime ministers. No one tried to divide the country. Instead of providing basic necessities to people - 'roti', 'kapda', 'makaan' - the BJP government is trying to divide the nation on religious lines. "It is asking people to furnish old documents to prove their citizenship. I suggest the Centre should first ask the Tripura CM to show his papers," she claimed.

Referring to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cancelled visit to Assam, Banerjee said it was a "blot" on the country's reputation. Abe's visit to India for an annual summit with his counterpart Narendra Modi in Guwahati was on Friday cancelled in the wake of violent protests over the amended citizenship law in the northeast states.

According to TMC sources, protests against the law would be held across the state on December 15. Two rallies would also be taken out in Kolkata on December 16 and 17, they said.

Noting that Bangladeshi ministers have also called off their visit to the country, Banerjee said the repressive law would disturb bilateral relations. "We respect Sheikh Hasina ji (Bangladesh prime minister). She is not communal. But the country's ministers are now afraid to come to India," she said.

The CM, however, urged people to maintain peace and not take law in their own hands. "We will organise protests against the citizenship law using constitutional means. We have always supported the helpless and the poor. I would urge the masses to maintain calm and not take law into their own hands," she said.

Her statement assumes significance amid protests across the state over the law, especially in Muslim-dominated pockets of Murshibad, Uluberia and parts of Kolkata. Slamming Banerjee for "fuelling protests" in Bengal, the state BJP leadership said the CM was trying to instigate the masses by spreading misinformation.

"Why is Mamata Banerjee not taking action against the infiltrators who are behind the protests in Bengal? She is instigating masses to take law into their hands. If she is so bothered about infiltrators, why doesn't she say anything about Hindu refugees?" BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya added. President Ram Nath Kovind had on Thursday given his assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, turning it into an Act.

According to the amended Act, non-Muslim refugees, who escaped religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and moved to India before December 31, 2014, will be granted Indian citizenship..