KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called on women across the state to step forward and raise their voices against what she described as atrocities committed by the Border Security Force (BSF) in border side regions.
Addressing a Trinamool Congress rally at Rashleela ground in Cooch Behar, Banerjee urged women to lead the resistance. “Let our mothers and sisters come forward and speak out against the BSF’s actions in the border areas,” she said, adding that she wanted to see whether Bengal’s women could prove “braver and stronger” than those affiliated with the BJP.
The Chief Minister also appealed to residents to stay united and not be intimidated by Central forces. During an administrative meeting in the district on Monday, she had already instructed the police to respond swiftly to any reports of harassment by the BSF.
Reiterating her stance, Banerjee assured people that no detention camps would be set up in Bengal under her government. “No one will be pushed back. As long as the Trinamool Congress is in power, there will be no detention camps here. We will not bow down to the BJP,” she said.
“We are working to bring back the remaining four Bengali-speaking Indian nationals from Bangladesh,” she said, noting that one of them, a pregnant woman, Sunali Khatun, and her eight year old son had already been reunited with their family in Birbhum. “Despite having valid citizenship documents, the BSF pushed them into Bangladesh,” she alleged.
In June, six residents of Paikar village in Murarai, Birbhum, were reportedly forced across the border by the BSF on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi citizens. Referring to this, Banerjee linked the issue to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. She claimed the Election Commission might announce dates for next year’s Assembly polls soon after releasing the final voters’ list to prevent legal challenges.
She further alleged that names of genuine voters were being removed during the revision process, even claiming that “people who are alive are being marked as dead” in the updated rolls.
During a two day visit to Cooch Behar, Banerjee questioned the pace of the SIR at an administrative review meeting at Rabindra Bhavan. “Why the rush? The last time this was done in 2002, the process took two years. I fail to understand how an impartial Election Commission can appear so biased,” she remarked.
Turning her attack towards the Centre, the Chief Minister accused the Union government of withholding funds owed to Bengal under MGNREGA and housing schemes, despite a Supreme Court directive. She accused the BJP-led government of trying to “financially choke Bengal.” Holding up a letter sent by the Centre, she tore it apart on stage, saying the Union government had been imposing unjust conditions on the job scheme
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
