Caravan News
KOLKATA — Reiterating her stand that her party will oppose the Citizenship Amendment Bill till the end, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that we will accept the Bill if you (Modi govt) give citizenship to all communities.
Addressing the party workers in Kolkata, according to NDTV report, Banerjee said, “If you give citizenship to all the communities, we will accept it. But if you discriminate on the basis of religion, we will oppose it and also fight against it.”
“The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are two sides of the same coin. We won’t allow implementation of CAB in Bengal. I urge other political parties to not support CAB,” Mamata Banerjee said.
The controversial Citizenship Bill, which seeks to make it easier for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to become citizens of India, has already got clearance from Union Cabinet on Wednesday and is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The West Bengal Chief Minister said the bill is being taken up by the centre to divert attention of the people from the economic slowdown and is discriminatory in nature.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill is widely criticised from many quarters and the opposition which say the Bill is at odds with the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution as it excludes a community.
