Mamata trying to create unrest in Assam, Bengal, says Dilip Ghosh

Kolkata: Condemning West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s civil war remark over publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh on Thursday alleged that she was trying to create unrest in both the states.

Ms Banerjee was “unnecessarily instigating” the people of Assam and Bengal, who, otherwise, have been living in peace, he claimed.

A day after the complete draft of NRC was released in Assam, Banerjee, who is also the Trinamul Congress chief, said the list could lead to “bloodbath” and “civil war-like situation” in the country.

The draft, released on July 30, included the names of 2.89 crore people out of the 3.29 applicants. Over 40 lakh applicants did not make it to the citizenship register.

The CM on Thursday sent a TMC delegation to assess the situation in Assam’s Cachar district in the wake of NRC publication, but the authorities there stopped the team from leaving the Silchar airport, citing prohibitory orders, under Sec 144 CrPc, in the region.

Mr Ghosh said the Trinamul Congress politicised the NRC issue by sending the TMC delegation to Assam.

“She (Mamata) sent delegation of her party leaders in an attempt to create unrest in Assam. We deplore this move and have duly informed the Governor about it,” he told reporters outside Raj Bhavan.

The Centre had already tabled a bill in Parliament to provide to citizenship to minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, but there, too, the TMC, along with the Congress and the CPI(M), prevented BJP president Amit Shah from speaking on the issue, Mr Ghosh stated.

Talking about the TMC allegations of maltreatment at Silchar airport on Thursday, the state BJP president said, “The footage from the airport shows that no one was mistreated. Mostly female police officers, deployed at the airport, were seen stopping the members from entering the state.”

The ruling party members were trying to malign the Assam government for no reason, Mr Ghosh said

“Not a single stone has been hurled in Assam and no one was rendered homeless, contrary to the reports by a section of media,” he told reporters.

Alleging that members of the delegation also resorted to “theatrics”, he said, “Some of them were seen playing kabaddi with police. The TMC team should be served tea at the airport and deported back to Kolkata at the earliest.”

Asked if the phones of TMC MPs were confiscated by police at Silchar, Mr Ghosh said the footage aired by TV channels in Bengal was made available by the delegation members.

“They (TMC members) are sending footage from the airport to the TV channels. This shows their phones have not been seized,” he explained.

Mr Ghosh also recalled that BJP delegations, led by MPs and MLAs, were prevented from visiting Basirhat, Baduriar and Dhulagarh areas after violence broke out in those areas.

“The TMC is talking about threats to democracy even when they had prevented us from visiting riot-hit areas in Bengal,” he said.

Claiming the “mask of TMC” had come off, Mr Ghosh said, the party’s movements in Delhi and Assam have revealed “their true colour”.

Talking about the errors that slipped into the NRC draft, the BJP state president said there was always scope for rectification.

“There can be some mistakes in preparing a list of this magnitude. The Assam government had sent names of 1,20,000 people to the West Bengal government for verification, but the ruling dispensation could provide inputs for only 15,000 Bengalis,” he claimed.

Mr Ghosh also asserted that one crore Bangladeshi infiltrators were currently residing in West Bengal, which shares 2217-km-long border with Bangladesh and 262-km border with Assam.

“These infiltrators are rupturing the social fabric of the state and eating into the employment opportunities of Bengal youths,” he said.

Asked if an NRC exercise would begin in West Bengal, Mr Ghosh said, “We are not taking any initiative immediately. We will undertake it at an appropriate time.”

Earlier on Thursday, the state BJP took out a rally in the city, led by senior leader Locket Chatterjee, demanding deportation of illegal Bangladeshis.

K09