Sticking to what he said in his earlier meetings despite strong criticism, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday >reiterated that infiltrators from Bangladesh would have to go back and claimed that Mamata Banerjee had said back in 2005 what he was saying now.
Mr. Modi said that he would only try to honour the Supreme Court’s observation that infiltration was as an act of aggression on India.
“The Supreme Court has said that infiltration is aggression on India. I have no hesitation in giving respect to what the Supreme Court has said,” Mr. Modi said at an election rally here.
“What the Supreme Court said has to be implemented,” Mr. Modi reiterated.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, however, then hastened to add that the case of refugees from Bangladesh was different and that it was the responsibility of all the states of India to rehabilitate them.
“There are two types of people who have come in — infiltrators and refugees. Those who are refugees are our family. It is the responsibility of all of India, whether Gujarat or Rajasthan to rehabilitate them with all respect.”
He claimed that in August 2005, during the UPA I government, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had “thrown a shawl at the chair of the Speaker demanding that Bangladeshi infiltrators be thrown out.”
“You (Banerjee) had then said that Bangladeshi infiltrators have destroyed Bengal and that they were being brought in by the Left for votes,” Modi said.
“What Modi is saying today was said by you in 2005,” he pointed out.
The Gujarat Chief Minister said that on May 6, 1997, the then Union home minister Indrajit Gupta of CPI had said in Parliament that over one crore Bangladeshi infiltrators had crossed over to India.
Mr. Modi also referred to former Union minister of state for Home P.M. Sayeed saying in 1995 that Bangladeshi infiltrators were crossing over in large numbers.
He also referred to former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee expressing concern over rise in Madrasas in areas bordering Bangladesh.
“There should not be any compromise on the issue of country’s security and unity,” Mr. Modi asserted in the meeting in favour of Satyabrata Mukherjee for the Krishnagar seat.
He claimed that “while the people here don’t get jobs, those who infiltrate from Bangladesh are welcomed with red carpet.”
Mr. Modi also took up the issue of Matua community, which comprise a large chunk of scheduled caste community in Nadia, within which the Krishnagar seat lies, and North 24-Parganas district, saying that he would personally hear their problems regarding citizenship issues and ensure a solution.
