Siliguri (West Bengal): Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘frequently comparing India with Pakistan’, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wondered Friday if he was an ‘ambassador of Hindustan or the neighbouring country’.
Banerjee, while addressing an anti-citizenship law (CAA) rally here said it was a shame that people were being asked to prove their nationality, even after 70 years of Independence.
“India is a big country with a rich culture and heritage. Why does the PM regularly compare our nation with Pakistan? Are you the prime minister of India or the ambassador of Pakistan? Why do you have to refer to Pakistan in every issue? You (Modi) should rather speak of Hindustan. We don’t want to be Pakistan. We love Hindustan,” Banerjee told the gathering.
Modi had Thursday dared the Congress and its allies to raise their voice against Pakistan’s atrocities on its minorities for the past 70 years.
Banerjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, said the prime minister and his party spoke of Pakistan every now and then to divert attention from the prevailing economic crisis and unemployment in India.
“If someone says give me job as I have no work, PM says go to Pakistan. If someone says we don’t have any industries, he says go to Pakistan. Pakistan can talk about themselves as much as they want, we should talk about India, this is our motherland, all of us were born here…” asserted the chief minister.
The TMC boss vowed to continue her protests till the amended citizenship Act was repealed. She accused the BJP of ‘deliberately’ creating confusion over the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC). She pointed out that BJP leaders are making contradictory statements on the issue.
“On one hand, the prime minister says there will be no NRC; on the other, the Union Home Minister and other BJP ministers claim the exercise will be conducted across the country,” Banerjee said.
Talking about recent clashes over the citizenship law in Uttar Pradesh, which claimed several lives, Banerjee, in a veiled attack on her counterpart Yogi Adityanath, said, “Those that cannot rule are governing major states.”
Banerjee dubbed her fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as the ‘second war of Independence’. “They (BJP) just know how to divide the nation on the basis of religion. But my religion is to defend the freedom of people. We have to save the country from bigotry,” Banerjee added.
PTI