Kolkata/Siliguri: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed Monday to her counterparts in the northeast and non-BJP states to study carefully the NPR form, its questions and criteria, before arriving at a decision on updating it.
Dubbing the NPR exercise as ‘a dangerous game’, Banerjee said the form, which seeks birth details and residential proof of parents, was nothing but a precursor to NRC implementation.
“I will appeal to all chief ministers, governments including those in BJP-ruled northeast states – Tripura, Assam, Manipur and Arunachal – and the opposition party-ruled states to read the law properly and consider the clauses in the NPR form before arriving at a decision. I request them not to participate in this matter because the condition is very bad,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said.
Banerjee also said that she came to know from the media that sections in the NPR form which seek birth details of parents were not mandatory.
“If the fields are not mandatory, why are they a part of the form? Efforts should be made to remove those questions. If they continue to exist on paper (form), those that do not enter birth details of parents might be automatically excluded. There is an apprehension…” she claimed.
The chief minister, after inaugurating the Uttarbanga Utsab in Siliguri, later in the day, said she would not be able to provide all details sought in the form.
Justifying her decision of not participating in a meeting convened by the Centre on NPR, Banerjee said she was happy to be the only one to skip it.
“Many people, who had spoken on the matter (NPR update), went to participate in the meeting. I am the only one who did not go. At least one person protested. I would request you all to rethink,” Banerjee stated.
Meanwhile in Kolkata principals of missionary schools and church priests took out a rally Monday to register their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The participants walked a 1.5-km distance from St Paul’s Cathedral to the Gandhi statue in the city, holding placards that read ‘No division among people’, ‘We are all children of Jesus’ and ‘No CAA’.
They also chanted hymns in English and Bengali.
“We only wanted to drive home the message that all are equal and we should not discriminate between religions and communities,” said the principal of a renowned missionary school.
The Kolkata diocese of the Church of North India (CNI) also urged other protestant churches to join the rally.
“This was the first time the CNI, Kolkata Diocese, convened such a large anti-CAA rally here. We chose two points for the march – St Paul’s Cathedral, that is part of the heritage of the city, and the statue of Mahatma, an apostle of non-violence and harmony,” a spokesman said.
Agencies