Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday threatened to “shed blood” in her renewed opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register Citizens (NRC), and Union Civil Code (UCC) in the country.
She issued the threat while addressing the members of the Muslim community during their Eid Namaz on Red Road in the city, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah came down heavily on her from a BJP rally in North Bengal for misleading the Hindu migrants on the CAA.
Training her guns on the BJP, the Trinamul Congress supremo told the huge congregation, “We are ready to shed our blood for the country but are not prepared to see torture on the people. You can make Joomlabazi as much as you can.”
She added, “As the Lok Sabha Election nears, you are calling us Muslim leaders and asking them of their needs! I know many of you have questions about whether CAA and NRC will happen here. Now they are bringing UCC. We won't accept it by force.”
Referring to Mr Shah's appeal on Wednesday to the refugees to apply under the CAA, Ms Banerjee argued, “They are telling how one can become a citizen. I also tell them how. If we are not citizens then how did you become? It is the citizens who elected a Prime Minister.”
She further pointed out, “Like you are saying who is a citizen and who is not, I am also telling you in the coming days you will not be there. My job is to give people security. There will be no CAA, NRC, or UCC. Each and every person will have their own rights.”
The TMC chief observed, “We want peace and harmony. So ask your family members, working outside, to come here during the polls to cast your votes for TMC. Otherwise, their names will be dropped. Not a single vote should be wasted. It is our fight against BJP.”
On the central agencies’ crackdowns against TMC leaders, she claimed, “There are some people who want to scare people by putting them into the hands of CBI, ED, NIA and I-T. I think it will be better if you build a jail where all will be lodged. But can you put everyone in jail in a country of 130 crores? We fight like Royal Bengal Tigers.”
