Massive anti-NRC rally led by CM Mamata rock the streets of Kolkata

September 12: A massive rally was taken out on Thursday which was led from the front by Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against National register of Citizens (NRC) from Sinthi crossing to Shyambazar in Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee warned the ruling BJP government in the centre and warned not to play with fire.

The huge rally culminated at Shyambazar five-point crossing. Mamata Banerjee was addressing a gathering in North Kolkata after a five-km long march. She said, “You can silence the people of Assam using police but it won’t work in Bengal. Try to touch a single person in Bengal and we will see. Those who live in Bengal are all citizens of Bengal.”

Mamata Banerjee warned the BJP not to play with fire in the name of NRC and said that she will never allow the implementation of NRC in West Bengal. Mamata further claimed that of the 19 lakh people excluded from the NRC in Assam, 12 lakh were Hindus and one lakh Gorkhas. It is in this context that she roared, “You can silence the people of Assam. but not Bengal.”

She further said Bengal is the land of Ramakrishna and Shri Chaitanya that epitomises the practice of inclusiveness and none here would be allowed to tell Hindus to get rid of Muslims or Rajbongshis to get rid of the Bengalis or Hindi-speaking people to get rid of the Bengalis as they did in Assam.

Just after the lecture of Mamata, BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh said, “We will not only throw out all the Muslim infiltrators, but will also pack off the leaders who speak in their favour. Forget Mamata alone, the whole of the opposition cannot stop this (NRC) from happening.”

Meanwhile on 6 September, 2019, a joint resolution moved by the ruling Trinamool Congress, Left Front and Congress, was passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to prevent the possible implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. While participating in a discussion at the Assembly on the motion on NRC under Rule 185, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “We will never let BJP implement the NRC in West Bengal.”

She also said, “During Rajiv Gandhi’s regime, the Assam Accord was signed to bring back peace and tranquility to the state. This was not applicable to other states in India. We will not accept the NRC here. I welcome Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s statement that they will also not implement NRC in their state.” She also said, “This (NRC implementation) is nothing but an attempt to diverge the attention of the people from the ongoing economic crisis in the country.”