With a rising number of people in West Bengal apparently ending their lives due to what is termed as “fear of the NRC”, Home Minister Amit Shah is to visit Kolkata on October 1 to clarify the BJP’s position on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2016.
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Mr. Shah is scheduled to visit the State and address a gathering at the Netaji Indoor stadium in the afternoon to clarify the party’s position.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and relatives of at least 11 individuals who have ended their lives, said that they had been in a “state of panic” once they were told that the NRC would be implemented in Bengal.
Senior leaders of the BJP have also reiterated that the exercise to determine citizenship will be carried out in Bengal. The party’s State president Dilip Ghosh was also questioned by people — predominantly from the Hindu community — if they would have to leave Bengal if the NRC were to be implemented.
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‘Reverse process’
Of particular concern is the Home Minister’s earlier stated position that the NRC-CAB process would be reversed in Bengal.
Prior to the Lok Sabha election, the Home Minister had said at a press conference in the city in April that the process of establishment of citizenship will be reversed in Bengal.
“Get the chronology clear. First the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will be conducted to give citizenship to refugees and then NRC will be introduced. Not just for Bengal but for the rest of the country,” Mr. Shah said.
He is expected to elaborate on the argument during the public meeting.