October 23, 2019
No detention centre to come up in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee
Bangla Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday ruled out any possibility of detention centres coming up in West Bengal on the lines of such camps for keeping illegal foreigners being set up in states like Assam and Karnataka.
“I say with all responsibility in the presence of all government officers that we have no plans to undertake any NRC (National Register for Citizens) exercise in our state.
“So the question of constructing any detention camp does not arise. It can only come up if we construct it,” she said addressing an administrative meeting at Uttarkanya – the North Bengal branch secretariat of the state government near Siliguri.
The Chief Minister said the NRC exercise could be undertaken in Assam as it was part of the Assam accord, 1985.
The CM said the NRC would not happen in Bengal as “we run the government here”.
“They could carry out such an exercise in Assam, as the matter was a part of the Assam Accord of 1985, and because the state has a BJP government. In this state, we run the government.”
She also said the CAB, if passed, would render people as foreigners for six years. “So Indians, and particularly Bengalis, will become foreigners for six years. What will you do with such people for six years? And then, what will happen?” she said.
