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Bengal

Intellectuals condemn passing of CAB

Kolkata: Intellectuals in the city condemned the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and termed it "discriminatory" on Saturday.

"The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which has become Citizenship (Amendment) Act is an insult to unity and diversity culture of our country. Whenever there is problem to the society or to the culture we protest through poetry, paintings and music," said Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee, a renowned artist, during a press conference conducted by poets, writers, authors and artists.

While the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by both Houses of Parliament earlier this week, it seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there.

Five states - West Bengal, Punjab Kerala Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh - have refused to implement the CAA following protests against the amended Citizenship Act continued in the state. "Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

was the first to raise voice against the CAA. She appealed to people to maintain calm and protest democratically. We

are following the Mamata Sanskriti and urge people to show their grudge in a peaceful manner," pointed out Subhaprasanna.

"The Bipod Janak Party (very dangerous party referring to Bharatya Janata Party) which has originated from the RSS has killed Rabindranat Tagore again through CAA. Our national anthem (Janagana Mana) written by Tagore says that irrespective of caste and creed people reside in India," said Pratul Mukhopadhyay, Bengali singer, creative artist and songwriter.

It might be mentioned that protests over the amended Citizenship Act have reached the shores of West Bengal with agitators resorting to violence and arson at railway stations and thoroughfares across the state, seeking immediate revocation of the law on Saturday. "There is anger among people all across India. People are protesting not only in West Bengal but also in Assam and Delhi. It is a conspiracy of the BJP government to spread hatred and violence

in the whole country. 17 years ago the BJP government had created riots in Gujarat. It is now the same government in the central who is implementing its fascist rule again," said Joy Goswami, Bengali poet.

"We are Muslims and we follow Mamata sanskriti. We are with our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is fighting against the implementation of CAA," said Abul Bashar, Bengali writer.

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