Will fight for language, says Mamata, slams SIR
Mamata Banerjee
landed a double blow on the BJP-led Centre on the eve of Independence Day, reiterating that the special intensive revision (SIR) of poll rolls was nothing but an "NRC exercise specifically targeting Bengal" and that no one could snatch the "freedom of speaking in one's language".
"How many people in Bengal have passports? How many can provide birth certificates of their parents?" she asked, alleging that those who are tasked to grant citizenship were now planning to take it away. On the language issue, Banerjee stressed that she would "fight against it, as long as I live".
The twin attacks by the CM came shortly after the Supreme Court's order on SIR. "They (EC) have removed Aadhaar, PAN (from the list of documents for SIR).
How many people have passports? They even asked for date of birth of the parents. Those born in 2002, how will they get their parents' certificate? Did they have institutional delivery? How many hospitals were there? Those who came from Bangladesh, how will they show certificates? They are planning to implement NRC.
We are not concerned about double-engine states. They are targeting opposition states and Bengal is a special target."
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Referring to the SC order, Banerjee said, "The Supreme Court has stated that Aadhaar must be upheld. The SC has also granted more time for the Bengal case. Our MP filed the first case. We joined as a state, and some NGOs have joined too. I fail to understand why there will suddenly be an SIR. The last SIR here was in 2002. It started in 2002 and ended two years later."
The CM said Bengal was being targeted as it offered true independence to its citizens.
"Those who came from Bangladesh with just clothes on them, where are their documents? Those who are falsely promising citizenship today will not actually grant it… SIR is an attempt to take away citizenship," she said.
She also brought up the issue of the Kolkata dad-son duo, in Noida being turned away by a hotel there for speaking in Bengali, using it as an example of how those speaking in Bengali were being persecuted. "We have also suffered from Partition. If someone is a foreigner, action must be taken against them . However, such actions should not be done arbitrarily," Banerjee said.
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