Country burning, they talk about clothes: CM
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had said during an election rally in Jharkhand recently that those involved in arson can be "identified by their clothes". The Chief Minister retorted: "The whole country is burning and they are talking about the clothes you are wearing."
The Prime Minister made the remarks while accusing the Congress and other Opposition parties of inciting protests against the Citizenship law in the North-east and other parts of India.
"There are protests everywhere. There's no place where there aren't protests. Despite that, at a time like this, a comment on clothes? That you can make out who the protesters are by looking at their clothes? Can you make out what I am wearing? Is it bad? All these people around me... the clothes they are wearing... are they good clothes or clothes or something disgusting," she said.
"Or is it that only those people wear caps on their heads and no one else? Punjabis wear turbans, bishops wear their own clothes, what you wear is up to you, what you eat is your business. Now, one of these days they just might tell me, why are you wearing white bath slippers. We will make you some saffron ones. Wear that! Can you make out someone's politics by looking at their clothes." She was addressing a gathering at Jadavpur. Banerjee is among the three Chief Ministers who have said they will not implement the two measures in their states, though the Centre has said no state has a choice.
Banerjee on Tuesday accused the Centre of passing the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) without consultation in Parliament and reiterated that the NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not be implemented in the state.
"Our slogan is 'No CAB, No NRC in Bengal'", Banerjee said during the rally.
"The Bill was passed in Parliament without any consultation. You cannot make out the religion of a person through their dress," she added.
Banerjee condemned the violence that erupted in Jamia Millia Islamia, alleging that the police brutally tortured the innocent students, which she said was "intolerable".
"There is no end to conspiracies by the BJP. They discreetly light fires in the country. If you come across such fires, douse them immediately. We will not initiate violence," she said.
She told the protesters to create badges with the slogan 'No CAB, No NRC' to signify the protest against the amended citizenship law and the proposed NRC exercise.
Countrywide protests are going on in solidarity with the Jamia and Aligarh Muslim University students who have been subjected to police highhandedness. Students from all over India are carrying out protest marches.
Students of Jadavpur and Presidency University took out separate rallies in support of the students of Jamia. Students were seen carrying placards with slogans written condemning the police crackdown on students. They were also seen protesting against the NRC and CAA. They raised slogans against the BJP-led government as well as the Delhi Police during the rally.
