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Mamata Banerjee accuses BSF of giving separate identity cards in border areas
Mamata Banerjee alleged that those who take the card will come under the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and will be thrown out of the state.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that the Border Security Force (BSF) wants to give separate identity cards to those who live in border areas. She warned people against accepting the card.
She alleged that those who take the card will come under the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and will be thrown out of the state.
"The BSF is oppressing the people. The BSF wants to give a separate identity card to the people in the border areas. Remember, do not take the separate identity card that the BSF wants to give by entering the border area; say that I have an Aadhaar card or that I have a ration card; say that I will not take your card. If you take that card, you will come under the NRC, and they will throw you out," said Mamata as quoted by news agency ANI.
"Please enrol your name in the voters' list. So that Delhi cannot get a chance to throw out you of the state," she added.
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Mamata's remarks have come after union minister Shantanu Thakur said on Sunday that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be implemented across India in a week.
“The Ram mandir (temple) in Ayodhya has been inaugurated, and within the next seven days, the CAA will be implemented across the country. This is my guarantee. Not just in West Bengal, the CAA would be implemented in every state of India within a week," Thakur said during a public rally in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on Sunday.
What is the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) ?
The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi-led government, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
The CAA was passed by India's Parliament in December 2019 and received presidential assent subsequently. However, Muslim organisations and groups alleged discrimination on the basis of religion and protested against it.
