West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged Home Minister Amit Shah to maintain peace in the country in wake of violence in Delhi .
In the first face-to-face with Mr. Shah following the clashes in the national capital , Ms. Banerjee brought up the issue of riots in presence Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the 24th Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Bhubaneswar.
“I am saddened what has happened in New Delhi. It is necessary to bring the peace back. Victims’ families including that of police constable and IB officer should be assisted,” Ms. Banerjee said.
“If a problem takes place in any part of country, it spreads to other parts too. This should not happen. Please see to it that peace is maintained in the country,” the West Bengal CM said at the beginning of her address.
Ms Banerjee asserted that she would take up the issue of Delhi violence politically after normalcy was restored.
The Council did not discuss the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “They did not raise the issue and we also did not. The issues of NRC, Citizen (Amendment) Act and National Population of Register were not in agenda. So no discussion was held,” Ms Banerjee said.
Later in the afternoon, Mr. Shah addressed a public meeting here and defended the enactment of the CAA and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He reiterated that opposition parties were spreading lies and instigating people to carry out riots.
“All opposition political parties including Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Left parties and Trinamool Congress are opposing CAA. They are opposing CAA saying that rights of minority communities over citizenship would cease to exist. I and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the floor of Parliament had reiterated several times that not a single Muslim in India would lose citizenship due to CAA,” he said.
“The CAA is not a law that would take away citizenship, but it is a law of granting citizenship. Many communities including Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Jain, Buddhist and Parsee are left behind in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after the partition. Subsequently, they were persecuted there. They had taken shelter in India to save their respect,” Mr. Shah said.
“After 70 years, these communities are deprived of education, health and basic amenities. Where would they go? What about their human rights? Congress leaders had promised at 27 different places that citizenship would be granted to Hindu and Sikh refugees. They did not keep their promises. Despite knowing that his government would be criticized, PM Modi came up with CAA,” senior BJP leader said.
The HM said a Ram Temple that will touch the skies would come up at the same place where Lord Ram was born, referring to the proposed construction at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid.
