KOLKATA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Sunday that the Centre would not stop until all refugees in the country are granted citizenship under the amended Citizenship Act, and accused the opposition, including the Trinamool Congress, of misguiding refugees and minorities over the new law. Not a single person will lose citizenship because of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Shah said at his first public rally in Kolkata after the 2019 general elections.
He also hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is a bitter critic of the CAA, accusing her of “only caring about infiltrators.”
As Shah arrived in the city, Congress and Left activists demonstrated against his visit holding black flags and shouting “Amit Shah, go back”. They also accused the BJP of spreading hate and bigotry after a group of people holding the saffron party’s flags raised the incendiary “goli maro…” (shoot the traitors) slogan on their way to the Union home minister’s rally at the Shahid Minar ground.
Earlier, inaugurating a new building of the National Security Guards (NSG), Shah said India has zero tolerance towards terrorism and has developed a “proactive” security policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At the rally, he said, “The opposition is terrorising the minorities. I assure every person from the minority community that the CAA only provides citizenship, does not take it away. It won’t affect your citizenship.”
“The opposition parties are spreading canards that refugees will have to show papers but this is absolutely false. You don’t have to show any paper. We will not stop until all refugees are granted citizenship,” Shah said.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought the CAA to give citizenship to the refugees, but Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and other opposition parties were opposing it. The Union minister accused Mamata Banerjee of “fuelling riots” during anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests last year when trains and railway stations were burnt, and challenged her to stop the implementation of the CAA.
His comments came against the backdrop of the communal violence in northeast Delhi which was sparked by protests over the CAA and has left 42 dead and over 200 injured. With the 2021 state elections in mind, Shah also accused Banerjee of opposing citizenship to the Dalits, while referring to the Matua community, which with a population of around 30 lakh is a deciding factor in around 40 Assembly seats.
The Matua sect is a backward community of refugees who migrated to West Bengal during 1950s from erstwhile East Pakistan due to religious persecution. “I want to ask her (Mamata Banerjee), what harm did Dalits do to you? Why are you protesting when we want to give them citizenship? You only care about infiltrators. While protesting and opposing the CAA, you’re also opposing the social reforms of (Matua sect founders) Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur,” Shah said.
Listing out the priorities of the Narendra Modi government, Shah said that in its second term, the dispensation is focusing on of national security along with welfare policies.
“Our government has removed Article 370 from Kashmir and fulfilled the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee… Within a few months, a grand Ram temple will come up in Ayodhya, for which we have been waiting for 500 years,” he said.
Targeting the TMC government in the state, Shah expressed anguish over the “worsening” law-and-order situation in the state and exuded confidence that the BJP will come to power in West Bengal in 2021 with a two-third majority.
At the rally, Shah virtually set in motion the BJP’s campaign for the upcoming civic body elections and also launched the party’s ‘Aar Noi Annay’ (no more injustice) campaign for the next year’s assembly polls.
“With this ‘Aar Noi Annay’ slogan, we will change the government in the state and usher in Sonar Bangla (golden Bengal). If you give five years to Narendra Modi, we will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla,” he said.
Referring to the TMC’s ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ mass outreach campaign, Shah said, “Whenever Didi asks ‘Didi Ke Bolo,’ you say, ‘Aar Noi Anyay’ meaning we will not tolerate this injustice.”
He accused the TMC government of not allowing “central welfare policies to be implemented in the state” and of misusing central funds. Shah also alleged that West Bengal’s debt has nearly doubled despite a substantial increase in central funds under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shah also said that once the BJP is voted to power neither criminals and nor those who have looted public money will be spared. The TMC leadership was quick to return the fire, asking Shah to apologise for “failing” to save innocent lives during the Delhi violence. “Rather than coming and preaching in Bengal, Amit Shah you should have explained and apologised for failing to save more than 50 innocent lives in Delhi Violence right under your nose,” TMC leader and the chief minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee said in a tweet.
“Mr Shah, Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that the BJP is trying to spread,” he said.
At the NSG programme, the Union home minister said India has now joined the league of countries like the US and Israel in carrying out surgical strikes.
“Now, after Modiji became the PM, we have developed a proactive defence policy which is distinct from the foreign policy,” he said.
Shah arrived in Kolkata amid protests by opposition parties which waved black flags outside the airport. His effigies were also burnt in Park Circus area. CPI(M) and Congress activists also took out rallies in various areas of north, central, and south Kolkata.
Some people, carrying BJP flags, were heard shouting “goli maro…” (shoot the traitors) slogan at Esplanade on their way to the rally venue. State BJP vice-president and MP Subhas Sarkar, however, claimed that no BJP worker was involved in raising the incendiary slogan and blamed it on the TMC.
When contacted, a senior Kolkata Police officer declined to comment on the incident but said strict action will be taken against anybody trying to disrupt law and order.
“No arrest has been made in this connection so far,” the police officer said.
The Congress and the CPI(M) alleged that the saffron party was trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the state and accused the police administration of being inactive against those raising the inflammatory slogan.
Later in the evening, Shah held a meeting with the state BJP office-bearers. PTI
