‘The Citizenship Act will divide India. As long as we are in power, not a single person in the state will have to leave the country,’ the chief minister said.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Union Home Minister Amit Shah (File Photo: IANS)
As parts of country especially the northeast rage against the Citizenship Amendment Act with internet services being cut-off in areas protesting the Act, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she would not allow its implementation in the state “under any circumstances”.
Lashing out at the BJP-led central government over the amended Citizenship Act, Banerjee, who is also TMC chief, said the saffron party can’t bulldoze the states to implement the law.
“We will never allow NRC exercise and Citizenship Act in Bengal. We will not implement the amended Act, even though it has been passed in Parliament. The BJP can’t just bulldoze the states to implement it,” Banerjee said.
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Announcing a series of protest programmes across the state, the CM also said that she has cancelled her visit to Delhi to attend a meeting on the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi.
“The Citizenship Act will divide India. As long as we are in power, not a single person in the state will have to leave the country,” the chief minister added.
Referring to the Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s scheduled visit to Assam, which has been deferred, Banerjee said it would be a “blot” on the country’s reputation if he scraps the plan, amid protests over the Citizenship Act across Northeast. Abe has cancelled his three-day trip to India for annual summit with his Narendra Modi, from December 15-17, due to the deteriorating security situation in Guwahati, the planned venue of the meeting.
Indian High Commission in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka was also called by the Bangladesh government over the tense situation in the northeast.
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