In a scathing attack on the BJP and Union Home Minister over the detention and deportation of Bengali migrants and the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday challenged Amit Shah to produce the birth certificates of his parents.
Addressing a Bhasha Andolan rally in tribal-dominated Jhargram, the TMC supremo alleged that SIR, which was recently conducted by the Election Commission in poll-bound Bihar, was a backdoor way of implementing the NRC (National Register of Citizens) in the country
“to systematically disenfranchise minorities, tribals, and opposition supporters”.
“They (ECI) are asking for the birth certificates of people’s parents. Where will they get those from? I want to ask today. Do BJP leaders themselves have their parents’ birth certificates? Mr Amit Shah, arrest me if I am wrong. Do you have your parents’ birth certificates? Show that first. Then talk about removing people’s names from the voters’ list. When BJP leaders come here, we will hit the streets and protest,” she said.
“Previously, children were born at home. Where will the certificate come from? Now everything is based on 2002. Those who are demanding this, do they have their birth certificates,” she asked.
Calling the citizenship notices issued to two West Bengal residents by the BJP government in Assam, “unconstitutional and illegal”, the chief minister said: “Notices are being served to members of the Tapashili and Rajbanshi communities from Assam… We strongly condemn this. This is a veiled attempt to implement NRC. Shame on the BJP.”
“People are committing suicide out of fear of the NRC. Who will take responsibility for this? Tribals, minorities, and Tapashilis are facing persecution across the country. If they try to snatch away the rights of the people, they’ll have to go over our bodies,” the chief minister asserted, urging people not to respond to the notices.
“This conspiracy of implementing the NRC through the back door will not be tolerated. We will not give up an inch of land without a fight. How dare they serve NRC notices to people here? Do not respond to those notices. Live here in Bengal peacefully,” the chief minister said.
Mamata also threatened to take up the issue of persecution of Bengalis at global forums if it didn’t stop immediately. “If they remove the names of genuine Bengalis from the electoral rolls, I will travel the world and expose their (BJP’s) true faces,” Banerjee warned.
“I never speak about our country to the outside world. But if this continues, I will not remain silent. If Bengal faces atrocities, I will tell the whole world how this government is torturing us,” she said, after taking part in a 3-km-long protest march.
Referring to BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya’s comment that there is no language called Bengali, the TMC supremo said if the Opposition party leaders attack the Bengali language or Bengal’s people, she will not stay silent.
“Who gave birth to India’s freedom struggle and social awakening? Without Bengal, neither India nor the world can move forward. Bengal’s talent is spread across the globe. And what are you doing today?” she said.
Drawing from history to bolster her point, the TMC chief said, “Today, if someone speaks Bengali, they are jailed and labelled as Bangladeshi or Rohingya. I want to ask them, in which language did Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Netaji, Swami Vivekananda, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy speak? In which language was the National Anthem written? Who composed our National Song?”
The Bengal BJP condemned her attack on Amit Shah, calling her remarks “unbecoming of a chief minister” and reflective of her “growing political desperation.