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West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, addressing a gathering at an Eid prayer, reiterated that the state will not accept the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, National Register of Citizens and Uniform Civil Code. She also warned the gathering not to fall prey to the plot of “some people” during elections.
“Eid Mubarak. It is the Eid of happiness. It is the Eid of giving strength. It is a big thing to observe this Eid by fasting for a month… We are ready to shed blood for the country but will not tolerate torture for the country. A uniform civil code is not acceptable. I want harmony in all religions. Your safety, your life…,” news agency ANI quoted Mamata Banerjee as saying at the Eid prayer in Kolkata.
“We will not accept the CAA, NRC, Uniform Civil Code… During elections, some people will try to engineer riots. Don’t fall prey to the plot,” Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“If we live unitedly, nobody will be able to harm us,” the Bengal chief minister added.
Mamata Banerjee had earlier vowed not to implement the CAA in the state and had warned people that applying for citizenship under the CAA would designate them as foreigners and advised against it.
Mamata Banerjee’s statement comes a day after Union home minister Amit Shah’s scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress supremo for allegedly “misleading” people on the CAA and “facilitating” infiltrators for vote bank politics, emphasising that refugees should apply for citizenship without apprehension.
Addressing an election rally in Balurghat in Bengal on Wednesday, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Amit Shah slammed the TMC government “for trying to save the culprits in the Bhupatinagar bomb blast case” and for filing cases against NIA officials.
“Mamata didi is misleading people about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Why is she against refugees obtaining citizenship? I request refugees not to be afraid, please apply for citizenship, there will be absolutely no problem. No police case will be filed against you. Granting citizenship to refugees is our commitment,” PTI quoted Amit Shah as saying.
In March, the Centre implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, notifying the rules four years after the law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
According to the CAA, whose rules were notified on March 13, the government will grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
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