Centre trying to snatch voting rights, inflicting ‘language terrorism’ on Bengalis: Mamata

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday, accused the BJP-led Central government of attempting to strip citizens of their rights to vote under the guise of revising the state’s voter list and at the same time unleashing ‘language terrorism’ by inflicting torture upon Bengali-speaking people.

Addressing a programme on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, at Jhargram, Banerjee expressed her displeasure over the poll panel‘s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive, calling it a conspiracy to exclude genuine voters from the rolls, especially the poor, tribals, Dalits and minorities.

“Someone might tell you to fill out a form promising some benefits against it. Don’t fall for it blindly. They’ll collect your details and then remove your name from the voter list. Then, you’ll be handed an NRC notice,” she cautioned.

Banerjee said that the Central government has plans to delete the names of existing voters. “An EPIC card alone won’t suffice. New norms have been introduced to delete existing voters and force fresh enrolment. Names in the previous lists may no longer be valid. So, you need to cross-check whether your name is in the revised voter list. Whether it’s our Adivasi brothers, Dalits, Hindus, or Muslims—or even my Kanyashree girls—everyone must be included in the voter list,” said Banerjee.

Banerjee reiterated that she will not allow such an exercise of deleting names of genuine voters from the electoral rolls.

Expressing her inhibitions over new documentation like furnishing of birth certificates of parents for those born before 2002, Banerjee questioned: ”How is it possible when barely 60 per cent of people had birth certificates back then? And what about those born after 2004? How can their parents produce birth certificates? Most of us only have school certificates. I ask, do those making these laws have their parents’ birth certificates? They were born with silver spoons in their mouths—how will they understand the lives of working-class people?”

She condemned the poll panel’s recent directions for suspending four state government officials involved in the exercise of preparation of voter list. “ Two of my WBCS officers have been slapped with suspension orders. On what grounds? The election hasn’t even been announced. The state will come under the Election Commission only when elections are announced. Under what law are they being punished? You’re saying FIRs must be filed? This won’t be tolerated. I will not let any of my officers be punished. Let that be clear.”

Referring to Assam, she said, “Nearly seven lakh people have been removed from the voter list, including Hindu Bengalis. Notices are being sent in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, and Indian residents are being sent to Bangladesh.”

Continuing her tirade over alleged torture on Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, she said: “These useless people say Bengali isn’t a language. If there’s no such thing as the Bengali language, in what language was the national anthem written? What language did Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Raja Rammohan Roy, and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar speak? What about Netaji? Every person has a language, and language is a source of pride and identity,” she declared. Accusing the Centre of attempting to send Indian citizens to detention centres by falsely labelling them as Rohingyas and deporting them to Bangladesh, she said: “I am thinking, are we really independent? I hope our citizenship will not be snatched. Remember, we will not give up our language or our right to vote. Banerjee displayed a Rs 10 currency note from 1912 that featured text written in Bengali.

“There is no Hindi on this note. I am not against Hindi or any other language. But how can they say there is no Bengali language?” questioned Banerjee.

However, Bengal BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya criticised her remarks against the SIR process, calling it an attack on Constitutional institutions. “Whatever Mamata Banerjee has to say, she should go to the Supreme Court and tell them. This government will go this time,” he asserted.