GUWAHATI: BJP legislator
Shiladitya Dev on Friday accused
West Bengal chief minister
Mamata Banerjee of trying to drive a wedge between the Assamese and Bengalis in
Assam by making baseless comments on the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
"Mamata is not only trying to create a rift between Assamese and Bengalis living in Assam but is also exposing herself to the double standards she has been maintaining on the issue of sheltering religious minorities, especially from Bangladesh," Dev, who represents the Bengali-majority Hojai assembly constituency, said.
He added that Mamata had vociferously opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which proposes to grant citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"When she (Mamata) is feeling threatened by BJP's popularity in West Bengal, she is using the NRC update process as a tool to consolidate her and her's party's position in her state. Her plan is dangerous because she is trying to provoke Bengalis of Assam for her political benefits in West Bengal. This is very dangerous and we are totally against such provocation," said Dev.
Mamata, while addressing a public gathering in Alipurduar recently, had appealed to the people of her state to provide shelter to Bengalis if they are forced to leave Assam in case their names are dropped from NRC. Earlier, she had reportedly said that a 'conspiracy is being hatched to drive out Bengalis from Assam' after the first draft of NRC did not include many names.
The first draft of NRC was released on December 31 midnight with 1.9 crore names out of 3.29 crore applicants. The state government, which is the implementing agency for updating the Supreme Court-monitored NRC, has made it clear that names of genuine Indian citizens will be included in the subsequent draft.
Representative Photo
