Asking for an effort to “identify illegal migrants from Bangladesh in West Bengal”, claiming that their “number could run into crores,” BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya suggested weeding of immigrants from Bengal on Monday, 31 July.
“The youth in West Bengal want to identify the illegal migrants from Bangladesh as they are facing several problems like unemployment and law and order issues. The BJP supports their demand,” Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP general secretary in charge of West Bengal, told The Indian Express.
“If the final draft (of the National Register of Citizens) in Assam found 40 lakh illegal residents, the number could run into crores in West Bengal. In Assam, the Supreme Court has monitored it. This can be done in West Bengal too,” Vijayvargiya said.
Assam NRC A Govt Attempt To Divide And Rule: Mamata
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee left for New Delhi on Monday, 30 July, to take up the cause of the 40 lakh-odd, mostly Bengali-speaking people in Assam whose names didn’t make it to the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC), thus turning them into “refugees in their own country”.
Calling NRC a drive against Bengal and Bengalis and also Biharis living in Assam for generations, the Bengal CM accused the BJP-led state government as also the Centre of trying to “divide and rule for narrow electoral gains”.
“As many as 40 lakh Bengalis in Assam have been declared refugees overnight. People from north Bengal, Murshidabad, both Hindus and Muslims, living in neighbouring Assam for generations, having surnames Chowdhury, Datta, Saha, didn’t find a place in NRC despite submitting copies of Aadhaar card, EPIC, passport. I will seek an appointment with the home minister and urge him to take steps for their protection,” she said.
Meanwhile, MPs from Trinamool Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Samajwadi Party staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament on Tuesday, 31 July, over release of NRC in Assam.
Out of 3,29,91,385 applicants, 2,89,83,677 have been found eligible for inclusion in the complete draft of NRC that was released in Guwahati at 10 am on Monday, 30 July. This means that the names of 40,07,708 have been left out.
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