West Bengal CM urges Home Minister Amit Shah to examine NRC issue of Assam
The Chief Minister of West Bengal – Mamata Banerjee has met the Home Minister of India – Amit Shah today, i.e., Thursday, September 19, 2019 at Delhi, a day after she met the Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi.
During the meeting, she discussed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of Assam with Amit Shah.
She told Amit Shah that a lot of Indian citizens have been left out in the NRC of Assam and urged the Home Minister to examine their cases as many of them are Bengali-speaking people, Hindi-speaking, Gorkhas and even Assamese people.
NRC is a register maintained by the Government of India containing names and certain relevant information for identification of all genuine Indian citizens. The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and since then it has not been updated till recently. The North-East Indian State of Assam has become the first State in India where the updation of the NRC is being taken up.
However, during the meeting, the topic of NRC in West Bengal was not raised. Prior to this, Amit Shah had said in Jharkhand that NRC would be implemented across the country and people who fail on the merit would be required to leave the country. Besides, Mamata Banerjee led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has already made the NRC issue a political campaign in West Bengal, which is getting huge support. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is being defensive in West Bengal on NRC.
Speaking to media, Mamata Banerjee said, “I raised the issue of Assam NRC with the Home Minister and handed him a letter. I spoke to him about the exclusion of 19 lakh people out of the Assam NRC, some of who are Hindi, Bengali and Gorkha-speaking people and genuine Indian voters.”
On being asked about NRC in West Bengal, she said, “When asked if the issue of NRC in Bengal was discussed she said, “The Home Minister said nothing about NRC in Bengal. Our stand is clear that there is no need for NRC in Bengal. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has also said there is no need for NRC in his state. So we discussed issues related to Assam NRC only.”
She has also thanked Amit Shah for listening to her patiently on the NRC issue in Assam. “So whatever I spoke about (NRC in Assam) he (the home Minister) listened carefully. He said he would look into it. So many people in Assam are facing uncertainty. Where to stay? Where to go? I told him about digital ration card lines. Lakhs of people have got in the queue becqause it has created a scare. So I told him our country is for all languages and for all kinds of people. So we must make sure that whoever is Indian is not disturbed. The home minister heard me carefully and I believe he will play a positive role,” said Mamata Banerjee.
Earlier on Wednesday, i.e., September 18, 2019, she had met Narendra Modi where she had also discussed the proposal of changing the name of West Bengal to ‘Bangla’, among other issues.
For the records, Mamata Banerjee’s meetings with Modi and Shah come at a time when CBI is looking for the Former Police Commissioner of Kolkata – Rajeev Kumar for his alleged involvement in the Saradha scam. Rajeev Kumar has been untraceable for months despite Supreme Court’s order of cooperating with CBI.
The Saradha scam was a major financial fraud which lured lakhs of investors to deposit money in its schemes with promise of abnormally high returns. According to an official estimate, Saradha had mopped up about Rs. 1,200 crores through its chit funds. The company collapsed in April 2013.
