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New Delhi:
West Bengal will not allow implementation of the amended Citizenship Act “under any circumstances”, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today as she announced a series of rallies across the state to protest the contentious law.
“We will never allow NRC exercise and Citizenship Act in Bengal. We will not implement the amended Act, even though it has been passed in Parliament,” Ms Banerjee said, accusing the centre of forcing non-BJP states to implement the law.
“The Citizenship Act will divide India. As long as we are in power, not a single person in the state will have to leave the country,” the chief minister added.
The bill, which intends to make it easier for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to obtain Indian citizenship, has been accused by rights groups and opposition parties of being discriminatory and violating the constitutional right to equality.
Referring to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Assam — which now has been postponed, Ms Banerjee said the incident was a “blot” on the country’s reputation. Mr Abe was scheduled to visit India next week to attend a three-day summit with PM Modi in Guwahati, which has been engulfed in violent protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Mamata Banerjee has one of the staunchest critics of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and had announced, even before the Bill was passed by the parliament, that she would not allow it to be implemented in her state even if it became a law.
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