Guwahati: On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee slammed Home Minister Amit Shah for maintaining silence over CAA and NRC during his two-day visit to Assam. However, he announced the plan to implement CAA in West Bengal.
He claimed that CAA is used by BJP as a political tool. “CAA is a political tool and we should not get into this trap,” Banerjee said while addressing a public event here.
He claims that BJP is using this issue as a ‘jumla.’ He said, “This is a testament to the kind of politics that the BJP-led government is doing. They are using this issue as a ‘Jumla’. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in 2019 and within a month, it came to force and became CAA. You usually need 3-4 months to formulate the rules of a new Act, but it has been more than two and half years and the centre has sought six extensions but is still unable to form the rules of the CAA.”
He stated that TMC will continue to oppose the CAA. He termed it as a “draconian bill”.
“We oppose this draconian bill. In West Bengal, Amit Shah said that the CAA will be implemented after the COVID-19 pandemic is ebbed. In Assam, he is mum on the issue. This hypocrisy of the Union Home Minister is now out in the open. How can those people be termed illegal who voted you (BJP) in power? In Assam, the NRC list was prepared after spending ₹ 1600 crore and in the NRC list around 19 lakh, people were excluded. It is a botched up list,” he added.
Reacting to the Union Home Minister’s remark that the West Bengal government is not cooperating with the Centre to tackle the infiltration issue, Banerjee said that it is duty of Home Ministry to safeguard the borders. “It is the responsibility of the Border Security Force that comes under the Home Ministry. I would be happy to see if they can put any information on the Bengal government’s non-cooperation in this matter,” he said.
“Some people say Hindus are in danger and some others say Muslims are in danger. But, I will say, take off your spectacles of communalism, you will see that it is India, that is in danger,” he added.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
