Kolkata (West Bengal): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday participated in a demonstration being held by Trinamool Chhatra Parishad against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Kolkata.
It was a sit-in protest against CAA and NRC where TMC Chhatra Parishad members raised slogans against the union government's decision to promulgate CAA.
"Students are protesting. They are our country's pride. Students' movements have always shown the way. We, here in Bengal, were the first to start this movement. Yesterday the central government forcibly issued the notification for CAA but it will not work until people accept it. We shall definitely not implement it," Mamata said while addressing the students.
"In a democratic and secular country, any discrimination on religion cannot be allowed. Tomorrow it is Swami Vivekananda's birthday. Some fly down from Delhi to glorify themselves over his name but we work on his ideals all through the year. Remember, inside Belur Math, there is a Dargah too," she added.
The West Bengal Chief Minister made it clear that she is not in favour of implementing the CAA.
"Prime Minister Modi has come to Kolkata today and I have informed him that we will not implement CAA. We shall fight this along with other regional parties," she said.
In a reference to the left parties, she said, "Those that are trying to fish in troubled waters, let me tell them that they are the biggest dalal (brokers) of BJP."
Earlier in the day, during a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee demanded that both the CAA and NRC should be withdrawn.
"While speaking to Prime Minister, I told him that we are against CAA, National Population Register (NPR) and NRC. We want that CAA and NRC should be withdrawn," Banerjee had informed media persons immediately after her meeting with the Prime Minister at the Raj Bhavan.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.
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