Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday told participants at a public rally in Purulia that the Trinamool Congress-led government would provide all support to the people and that they “just need to ensure” their names were in the voters’ list. Purulia, a district with the highest tribal population in Bengal, had mainly voted for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha poll.
Earlier, thousands of protesters carrying Trinamool flags and banners marched to express opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Purulia, which borders Jharkhand.
“Just ensure that your names are there in the voters list. The rest will be taken care of by me. No one will have to leave this country,” she said. The Trinamool chief, who had attended the oath taking ceremony of the newly elected government in Jharkhand on Sunday, took her campaign to Purulia, a district with more than 20% tribal population.
“BJP is planning to take away citizenship of legal citizens,” Ms. Banerjee said. “I would appeal to everybody to join hands against the BJP and isolate them everywhere,” she said, adding, “whoever is conducting peaceful protest is being termed as anti-national.”
Ms. Banerjee warned the Central government by saying “I will not stop my protest till the CAA is withdrawn”.
Echoing a similar sentiment, a gathering of Hindu priests assembled in central Kolkata on Monday to register their protest against the CAA and NRC. Hundreds of priests under the banner of ‘Paschim Banga Rajya Sanatan Brahman Trust’ ( West Bengal Brahmin Trust) — a group dedicated to providing support and relief to indigent Brahmins — gathered around the Mahatma Gandhi statue on Mayo Road, and raised anti-CAA and anti-NRC slogans, demanding that peace should prevail in the State which had witnessed incidents of violence during protests against the contentious Citizenship Act.
General Secretary of the Trust, Sridhar Mishra said: “It is a matter of great concern that efforts are under way to divide the country on the basis of religion. The CAA and then NRC are aimed at excluding people of a particular community.” He also voiced his fear of the law affecting his own community by saying “If one community is targeted like this, it might also be inflicted on us some day.”
Trinamool MLA Rajib Banerjee voiced his support for the priests who had taken to the streets to protest. “The Centre cannot take such drastic steps targeting a particular community based on religion.
“It is extremely divisive in nature and will alienate people of the country where greats like Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda had preached about inclusive nature of Indian society,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
