Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Tuesday. (Express photo) Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Tuesday. (Express photo) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged that people in Assam, who questioned the legitimacy of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), were “picked up and taken to detention camps”. She also hit out at BJP president Amit Shah over the alleged exclusion of Bengali-speaking people from the final draft of NRC. “There are 1,200 people who have already been taken to detention camps. Many of those being housed in these camps are children. Some don’t even belong to Assam. It has come to our knowledge that some of those taken to the camps are traders from Murshidabad who had gone to Assam to sell sarees,” Mamata said. The chief minister also alleged that of the 40 lakh people left out of NRC, 38 lakh are Bengali speakers. “Twenty lakh are Bengali Hindus, 13 lakh are Bengali Muslims and another 2 lakh belong to Nepali community,” she said. Addressing mediapersons, Mamata also displayed documents allegedly belonging to people left out of the NRC draft. “I will show you documents from Baichangaon — this one is a resident from 1965, this one from 1964, this one from 1971. And here is a freedom fighter from 1945. And this is just one village. This is happening all over Assam. Many are those who have fought for our freedom. Tomorrow is Independence Day. The BJP is humiliating our freedom fighters. Are these people Indian citizens? Or are they asylum seekers? Or are they illegal immigrants… I have asked people in Assam how they are doing. They have told me they are not being allowed to speak, they are not being allowed to hold meetings or to protest what is happening. Those who are, like activist Subodh Biswas, are being slapped with false cases and imprisoned,” she alleged. She then asked if Shah could show his father’s or mother’s birth certificate. “I want to ask Amit Shah, you are the party president. I have high regard for the party president’s post. If someone asks whether your father and mother have birth certificates [will you be able to produce it?]. I am not talking about a fake one but an original birth certificate,” the chief minister said. “I myself don’t have. We were born in villages and didn’t have these things then…” she added. Mamata also said that if former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in a condition to talk, she would have asked him whether everyone can remember the dates of birth of their parents. “Does Advani ji (Lal Krishna Advani) know the date of birth of his parents? All these big leaders across the country, can they produce their birth certificates?” she asked. She also asked if the members of RSS units across the country know when their parents were born. “Just because they don’t like one particular community, it’s not correct to spread slander. There are Hindus and Muslims all who live together in Bengal. There is a large Bihari community that lives in my state as well — should I turn them out?” she said. Start your day the best way with the Express Morning Briefing For all the latest Kolkata News, download Indian Express App

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