All Bangladeshi refugees living in Bengal are Indian citizens, says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that all those who came from from Bangladesh and cast their votes are already Indian citizens and need not apply for citizenship afresh.

Speaking at a government program at Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur district Banerjee said that those who cast their votes to elect the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister should not trust anyone telling them that they are not citizens.

“Those who came from Bangladesh are all (Indian) citizens as all of them have been granted citizenship. What is the need for granting them citizenship afresh?,” said Banerjee.

The Chief Minister also said that refugees residing in India are already citizens of the country and they don’t need to apply for citizenship afresh.

“No one can take away the citizenship of refugees. There is no need to grant citizenship afresh as you are all citizens of this country. Don’t get misled by BJP’s falsehood,” said Banerjee.

Her comments came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said all refugees belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Christian, Buddhist and Jain communities will be granted citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Shah also dared Banerjee to stop the implementation of CAA.

Lashing out at the BJP government at the Centre the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said that despite the loss of so many lives in the riots in Delhi the Centre has not yet apologized.

“I am saddened with what happened in Delhi. So may people have died. Even now bodies are being found in drains. But the Central government has not yet said that they are ashamed. Why so many people were killed?” said Banerjee.

The Chief Minister asserted that she will not allow such violence in Bengal.

“Remember this is Bengal. What happened in Delhi will not happen in Bengal,” said Banerjee.

The TMC supremo, one of the most vocal critics of CAA and NRC, has been accused by BJP of siding with infiltrators for the sake of vote bank politics. The saffron party has also accused her of minority appeasement.