Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed her apprehension that BJP’s allegedly divisive politics would lead to division in the country as she wielded a notice purportedly served on a Bengal resident by the foreigners’ tribunal in Assam to prove that the homemaker was an Indian resident.
“The foreigners’ tribunal of Assam government has again served a notice on a woman who lives in the Alipurduar district of our state, seeking proof that she is an Indian. Such moves by the double-engine BJP governments, which include putting people in detention camps and deleting people’s names from the voter list, are unacceptable,” the chief minister told a news conference at Nabanna.
Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a Cooch Behar resident, had been served a similar notice by a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam in January.
“If you (the BJP) think that they will run the country in such manner, there will be division in the country … and such division would weaken the strong constitutional framework of India. We do not want it,” said Mamata.
The chief minister, who read out the notice purportedly sent by a member of the foreigners’ tribunal in Kokrajhar of Assam, said Anjali Seal, who stays in Jateswar under the jurisdiction of the Falakata police station in Alipurduar district, should appear before the tribunal on August 19 to prove her Indian citizenship.
“How the Assam government is interfering in Bengal is unethical, unconstitutional and illegal. They are crossing all lines, and I believe they should mind their own business, instead of going after our people,” said Mamata.
Mamata showed another letter sent by the Haryana government, where the BJP is
in power.
“They have sent a letter appended with a list of 52 migrant workers of our state and sought verification of their identities from the district magistrates and SPs of districts concerned. This is a planned move by the BJP,” she said.
According to her, the administration and the police of Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Nadia, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar and North 24 Parganas have been asked by the Haryana government to verify the details of the 52 migrant workers.
“They are detaining Bengali-speaking people in the BJP-ruled states. This is an irrational act. In Bengal, around one-and-a-half crore people from other states work in different fields, but we do not have any problem here. Why is then the BJP having problems with the migrant workers from Bengal?” asked Mamata.
Woman worried
Anjali Seal, the homemaker from Maimansinghpara in Jateswar 1 panchayat, however, said she had not yet received the notice.
“I have not yet received it, but heard that a notice had been issued in my name. My parents stay in Dhubri, Assam. I had called them up, but they have no inkling of the notice,” she said.
Nitya, her husband, runs a barber shop. “We are worried and don’t know what consequences we have to face,” he said.
He said he and his wife had been living in the area for over three decades. They have a son and a daughter.
“I have been seeing them since my childhood. It is nothing but harassment,” said Debajit Pal, a local youth.
Alipurduar district police officers said they had no information about the notice. “We have not received any copy of such notice so far,” said a senior police officer.
Additional reporting by our Alipurduar correspondent