A section of intellectuals and prominent civil society members considered close to the Trinamool Congress would take to the streets here in protest against the alleged exclusion of Indian citizens from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The announcement was made by a group of painters, poets and academics here on Friday.
“We condemn the exclusion of genuine Indians from the NRC. We are considering not only protests but also a visit to Assam,” Shuvaprasanna, painter, told presspersons. He accused the BJP of being ignorant of Bengali sentiments, and said the group would announce its future course of action within 15 days.
Subodh Sarkar, poet, described the situation in Assam following the publication of the draft NRC as “worse than that in Gujarat during the 2002 riots”.
“I don’t support infiltration. But removal of Indian citizens from the NRC on flimsy grounds is unacceptable. We condemn such inhuman and illegal acts,” Mr. Sarkar said. He lauded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s stand on the issue.
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, novelist, said that though infiltration in Assam was a “cause of concern in West Bengal”, it was wrong to remove Indian citizens from the NRC and label them as infiltrators. He did not attend the media conference but issued a written statement.
Kalyan Rudra, river scientist and West Bengal Pollution Control Board Chairperson, described the NRC operations as “suspicious”.
