The Union Home Minister, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, also targeted the Mamata Banerjee government, saying it has failed to stop political killings, post-poll violence and corruption in the state…reports Asian Lite News
The Citisenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be implemented once the Covid-19 situation is over, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday as he accused the Trinamool Congress of spreading rumours among the people.
Addressing a public meeting in north Bengal’s Siliguri, Shah said, “Trinamool Congress is spreading rumours that the CAA will not be implemented. Let me tell you today that once the Covid-19 wave is gone, we will implement CAA on the ground and give citizenship rights to our refugee brothers and sisters.”
Referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said, “Mamata Didi only wants to see infiltration [into Bengal] and our refugee brothers not getting the citizenship. But the Trinamool must listen to this clearly that the CAA was a reality, is a reality and will remain a reality. Trinamool Congress cannot change this.”
Enacted in 2019, the CAA aims to grant citizenship to members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who migrated to India after facing persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Union Home Minister, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, also targeted the Mamata Banerjee government, saying it has failed to stop political killings, post-poll violence and corruption in the state.
Incidentally, the Trinamool Congress government completed one year in office after it came to power to the third consecutive term last year.
“The people of Bengal gave Mamata Banerjee a mandate for third time to become the Chief Minister. We had hoped that Mamata Banerjee would mend her ways and change her style of functioning. We waited for an entire year for her to rectify herself, but she did not change,” Shah said. “Have the atrocities stopped? Has the number of murders [come down]? Has violence stopped? Has corruption ended? Don’t think BJP will not fight. I want to make it very clear that the BJP will continue its fight.”
The Union Home Minister said that after the post-poll violence in West Bengal, the National Human Rights Commission said there is no rule of law in the state. “Here 101 people were killed, 1,829 people were injured and TMC goons were found guilty in more than 168 cases,” he said.
Referring to the latest incidents of violence in the state, Shah asked why the Chief Minister did not send a delegation to Birbhum where eight women and a child were burnt alive. “She sends a delegation whenever an incident takes place across the country, but why didn’t she send a delegation to Birbhum where eight women and a child were burnt alive, aren’t they her people? Why was a fact-finding team not sent to Nadia district where a minor girl was raped?”
He also accused the Chief Minister of misleading Gorkha community in the north Bengal hills. “I have come today to tell Gorkha brothers and sisters that if there is one party that thinks in their interest, it is the BJP. We have said that a permanent political solution to all the problems will be found within the limits of the Constitution.”
Shah also thanked the people of West Bengal for helping in increasing the BJP’s tally in the Assembly to 77 in the 2021 elections.
“When we contested in the previous Assembly elections [2016], we got only 3 seats. You helped us increase our tally to 77 seats. By giving 2.28 crore votes to the BJP in the Assembly elections [2021], you have strengthened the party in every village,” he said. “The BJP will not stop its fight unless and until Didi stops her atrocities, corruption… on the people of Bengal.”
He claimed that West Bengal has the highest electricity rates in the entire country and the highest petrol price. “Even today, the poor of Bengal do not get the benefit of Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Mamata Didi does not implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme out of fear of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.