Habra (West Bengal): Terming the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules by the Centre as a poll gimmick by the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that the moment one applies for CAA, he or she will be declared "illegal".
Using a scathing Ludo analogy, Banerjee claimed that the BJP's choice to proceed with CAA will be a complete failure. "They believe they have rolled a 'six', but in reality, they have rolled the lowest number. There will be no net result,' she declared on Tuesday during a public meeting in North 24 Parganas.
Banerjee further said she has studied the rules last night and sought legal advice. "This is a dangerous trap set up by the BJP. CAA is directly linked with the National Register of Citizens (NRC). This CAA and its rules turn valid citizens into illegal immigrants," she claimed.
She also lashed out at the ruling party saying it discriminates on religious lines. "They will send you to detention camps, once you apply under the CAA rules," she alleged.
The CAA, enacted four years ago, grants citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants escaping 'persecution' in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress chief, issued a warning about possible instability and charged that the BJP was trying to inflame unrest by enacting the CAA.
She expressed doubts about the validity of the CAA regulations that the Center had announced and raised issues about how they would affect different Indian groups' rights to citizenship.
Unleashing a scathing attack on the BJP, she said, "They have done this earlier in 2019 in Assam, just before the elections. In the name of NRC, they had delisted 13 lakh predominantly Bengali residents out of 19 lakh, in there."
She said that the North East is bleeding and crying profusely from Monday night. "If Afghanistan has been brought in, why not Myanmar or Sri Lanka? For only two to three seats, BJP is stooping so low and putting the lives and future of so many people in jeopardy," Banerjee alleged.
"This is yet another jumla of the BJP. If their intentions were so transparent, why were Aadhaar cards of Matuas being deactivated? For applying under the CAA rules, you have to furnish your parents' birth certificates. How many of you have those documents? At least, I do not. They are telling lies and trying to hoodwink people ahead of the polls," she concluded.
- " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="">
Read More:
