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Secret GoI notification behind detention of Bengalis, alleges Mamata; BJP counters
Kolkata's CM Mamata Banerjee accuses BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking workers as illegal immigrants, claiming a secret directive fuels detentions.
KOLKATA: The political row over the detention of Bengali-speaking workers in various Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled (BJP) states over suspicions that they are illegal immigrants intensified on Wednesday with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the drives were being conducted following a secret directive issued by the central to these governments.
“The Central government secretly issued a notification in February and sent it to BJP-ruled states asking them to arrest Bengali-speaking people. The notification says anyone can be kept in a detention camp for a month. Even people visiting their relatives are not being spared,” Banerjee said, leading a protest march through Kolkata braving spells of rain.
“This is more than Emergency. This super Emergency is being executed by those who observed a day against the Emergency by insulting Indira Gandhi. We will challenge this. Migrant workers from Bengal are being tagged as Rohingyas from Myanmar. They are being deported to Bangladesh because they speak Bengali… how can you call Bengalis Rohingyas? These people have Aadhaar and PAN cards,” Banerjee said, accusing the BJP governments of selectively targeting Muslims.
“You have used the EC (Election Commission). It is being said that the 2002 voters’ list will be scrutinised. Many of those voters are dead. Bengal’s voter list is being manipulated online from other states. The BJP is lying to the people,” she said.
“There are 15 million migrant workers in India. Of them, 2.2 million are from Bengal. These people struggle a lot in other states. They can live a better life if they stay here. You make them work and then put them to detention camps. Is West Bengal not in India? Banerjee said and threatened to counter the BJP with “appropriate action” and agitations in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and the other places where these detentions have been reported.
Banerjee also questioned the timing of the exercise. “You start these whenever we approach an election. I respect the EC but we do not spare those who work as BJP’s agents. This has been planned in Bihar as well. This is how they won in Maharashtra and Delhi. We will fight it out. We won’t spare an inch of land,” she said.
“People from various states, castes and creeds live in Bengal. We respect them. We will never touch them. Why are you against Bengalis? The national anthems of India and Bangladesh were composed by Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali. You (the Centre) gave recognition to all (refugees) who came to India after 1971 (Bangladesh Liberation War),” said Banerjee and held the Centre responsible for the alleged infiltration.
“The Border Security Force controls the border and the Union home minister controls the BSF. The trains are under the Centre and planes are under the Union civil aviation ministry,” she said.
BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly, countered Banerjee saying data accessed by him showed that the rate of increase in number of voters in at least nine Bengal districts is higher than the state’s birth rate during the last 2011 census.
“Banerjee held a rally to protect the Rohingyas. The event was a failure. TMC and the state government have changed the demographic character of Bengal. We demand a Rohingya-free voter list,” said Adhikari.
At the Kolkata rally, Banerjee also alleged that even non-Mulims, such as the Dalit Matua community and the Rajbanshi community, were being targeted.
“Some Matuas were detained in Pune yesterday, They were from Gaighata. Rajbanshis are being pushed back to Bangladesh. People from Nadia were detained in Chhattisgarh. The Assam government has sent NRC notices to people in Cooch Behar. How can they?” said Banerjee.
“If you think this is how you will run the nation then remember Bengal gave birth to people like Tagore and Netaji. Go to the Cellular Jail in Andaman and you will find that 70% of the freedom fighters lodged there were Bengalis. And most of the rest were from Punjab,” said Banerjee.
While the TMC rally was on, Suvendu Adhikari marched to the office of the state’s chief electoral officer with 14 BJP MLAs and demanded an extensive electoral roll review through a door-to-door survey.
“I can show you data. While the rate of population growth in Bengal during the last 2011 census was 13%, the number of voters in nine districts bordering Bangladesh increased by 20-25% after 2014. This has been done by letting in the Rohingyas,” said Adhikari.
“Of the Aadhar cards found from the people detained in various states, 90 % were generated against fake birth certificates issued in Bengal,” he said.
