NRC Panic Is Already Taking Lives in West Bengal
Despite Mamata Banerjee's assurance that the exercise will not be implemented in the state, eleven deaths have been reported.
NRC Panic Is Already Taking Lives in West Bengal
People wait outside a Kolkata government office to receive ration cards. Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
Gurvinder Singh
POLITICSRIGHTS
08/OCT/2019
Kolkata: Towards the end of September, Kamal Hossain Mondal, had been spending sleepless nights. Mondal, a resident of Soladana village in Basirhat of West Bengal, was worried about his family’s fate if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) gets implemented in Bengal in the near future. As a panicky situation developed, the 32-year-old brick kiln worker was found hanging from a tree near his house on September 22.
Kamal and his wife, Khayrun Nahar Bibi, lived in their village, barely 500 metres from the Indo-Bangladesh border. They have two sons. Bibi says Kamal was forced to go from one government office to another to try and secure land documents and get the spelling of their names corrected on the Aadhaar and voter cards.
Khayrun Nahar Bibi the widow of Kamal Hossain Monda. Photo: Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
“For some days before his death, Kamal was under tremendous stress since rumours began to spread over the NRC being implemented in Bengal. We have lived here for nearly a century, but have lost the land documents to prove it. He was so tensed that he had even contacted four lawyers and had sought their opinion if we fail to arrange documents to prove citizenship,” she says.
Also Read: The NRC Poses a Two-Fold Predicament for Assam’s Transgender Community
In the Basirhat area, four other persons – including two women – died towards the end of Septemeber, apparently because of the panic over the possible implementation of the NRC. Deaths have also been reported from North Bengal. The families of those who killed themselves reveal a similar story of mental depression and worries surrounding their citizenship if the NRC kick-starts in Bengal.
Indo-Bangladesh border separated by Ichamati river. Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
Mamata’s assurance
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed that eleven people have lost their lives under these circumstances and has blamed the BJP for it. The TMC supremo has repeatedly assured people that there is no need to panic as the NRC cannot be implemented in Bengal without the state government’s consent.
“The NRC exercise will not be conducted in Bengal or anywhere else in the country. It was conducted in Assam due to the Assam Accord. Who are they to ask for my papers? After so many years, from where will I get those papers and documents? They may have been washed away or it might have been misplaced,” Banerjee had said on September 23, addressing a trade union meet in Kolkata.
But it does not seem to have worked. Long queues are visible outside administrative offices in both rural and urban areas, with people arriving early in the morning to get their documents in order.
Prasanta Kumar Ghosh, vice-chairman of the Basirhat block-1 panchayat samiti where Kamal lived, said usually, the office receives around 25-30 applications every day for birth certificates, correction in ration cards and other documents. “Now, it has swelled to around 500-600 applications. The crowding forces us to turn away people and return later,” he said.
Also Read: Amit Shah’s NRC Plan Decoded – Communal Division, and a Big Lie Too
Without referring directly to the NRC panic, even officials in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) acknowledge there has been a spurt in numbers. “We have made a strict rule to issue only 100 birth certificates every day, after issuing coupons. The high number of applications have been restricted to avoid any mistakes in the documents,” said Atin Ghosh, deputy mayor of the KMC.
KMC officials privately admitted that during their years in service, they had never seen such large number of people arriving to collect documents, especially in the days leading up to the Durga Puja.
Long queues outside a government office in Kolkata. Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
BJP points finger at Mamata
The BJP, however, has blamed the ruling dispensation for the pandemonium. “She (Mamata Banerjee) is trying to create panic among the Hindus over the NRC. We have clearly said all Hindus who have come from other countries will be given citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and then the NRC will be implemented,” said Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president.
What has added to the panic among minorities is a comment by Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP national general secretary, who said that the NRC will be implemented in West Bengal but “not a single Hindu will have to leave the country”.
“As the national general secretary of BJP I want to assure all of you that the NRC will be implemented but not a single Hindu will have to leave the country. Each and every Hindu will be given citizenship,” he said at a programme during an event in Kolkata on September 25.
Also Read: Why the Proposed Citizenship Amendment Runs Foul of Constitutional Provisions
But political experts believe that the excessive thrust on the NRC might backfire for the saffron party in the West Bengal assembly polls, scheduled for 2021. Prof Sibaji Pritam Basu, a political commentator in Kolkata, said that the fear psychosis is running high not only in Muslims but also among Hindus who are living in upscale localities in Kolkata.
“Many had crossed the border at some point. The NRC will not only push Muslims into trouble but would also cause anguish to Hindus who will face similar issues to prove their citizenship. If the same issue is treated differently for Hindus and Muslims, it might lead to violence and a complete breakdown of law and order,” he said.
Basu said that the NRC in Assam was mandated by the Assam Accord, but there is no such provision for Bengal. “The political agenda of the BJP to welcome the Hindus as refugees while describing Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ might boomerang in the state polls,” he said.
Gurvinder Singh is a journalist based in Kolkata.
Despite Mamata Banerjee's assurance that the exercise will not be implemented in the state, eleven deaths have been reported.
NRC Panic Is Already Taking Lives in West Bengal
People wait outside a Kolkata government office to receive ration cards. Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
Gurvinder Singh
POLITICSRIGHTS
08/OCT/2019
Kolkata: Towards the end of September, Kamal Hossain Mondal, had been spending sleepless nights. Mondal, a resident of Soladana village in Basirhat of West Bengal, was worried about his family’s fate if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) gets implemented in Bengal in the near future. As a panicky situation developed, the 32-year-old brick kiln worker was found hanging from a tree near his house on September 22.
Kamal and his wife, Khayrun Nahar Bibi, lived in their village, barely 500 metres from the Indo-Bangladesh border. They have two sons. Bibi says Kamal was forced to go from one government office to another to try and secure land documents and get the spelling of their names corrected on the Aadhaar and voter cards.
Khayrun Nahar Bibi the widow of Kamal Hossain Monda. Photo: Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
“For some days before his death, Kamal was under tremendous stress since rumours began to spread over the NRC being implemented in Bengal. We have lived here for nearly a century, but have lost the land documents to prove it. He was so tensed that he had even contacted four lawyers and had sought their opinion if we fail to arrange documents to prove citizenship,” she says.
Also Read: The NRC Poses a Two-Fold Predicament for Assam’s Transgender Community
In the Basirhat area, four other persons – including two women – died towards the end of Septemeber, apparently because of the panic over the possible implementation of the NRC. Deaths have also been reported from North Bengal. The families of those who killed themselves reveal a similar story of mental depression and worries surrounding their citizenship if the NRC kick-starts in Bengal.
Indo-Bangladesh border separated by Ichamati river. Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
Mamata’s assurance
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed that eleven people have lost their lives under these circumstances and has blamed the BJP for it. The TMC supremo has repeatedly assured people that there is no need to panic as the NRC cannot be implemented in Bengal without the state government’s consent.
“The NRC exercise will not be conducted in Bengal or anywhere else in the country. It was conducted in Assam due to the Assam Accord. Who are they to ask for my papers? After so many years, from where will I get those papers and documents? They may have been washed away or it might have been misplaced,” Banerjee had said on September 23, addressing a trade union meet in Kolkata.
But it does not seem to have worked. Long queues are visible outside administrative offices in both rural and urban areas, with people arriving early in the morning to get their documents in order.
Prasanta Kumar Ghosh, vice-chairman of the Basirhat block-1 panchayat samiti where Kamal lived, said usually, the office receives around 25-30 applications every day for birth certificates, correction in ration cards and other documents. “Now, it has swelled to around 500-600 applications. The crowding forces us to turn away people and return later,” he said.
Also Read: Amit Shah’s NRC Plan Decoded – Communal Division, and a Big Lie Too
Without referring directly to the NRC panic, even officials in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) acknowledge there has been a spurt in numbers. “We have made a strict rule to issue only 100 birth certificates every day, after issuing coupons. The high number of applications have been restricted to avoid any mistakes in the documents,” said Atin Ghosh, deputy mayor of the KMC.
KMC officials privately admitted that during their years in service, they had never seen such large number of people arriving to collect documents, especially in the days leading up to the Durga Puja.
Long queues outside a government office in Kolkata. Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Wire
BJP points finger at Mamata
The BJP, however, has blamed the ruling dispensation for the pandemonium. “She (Mamata Banerjee) is trying to create panic among the Hindus over the NRC. We have clearly said all Hindus who have come from other countries will be given citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and then the NRC will be implemented,” said Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president.
What has added to the panic among minorities is a comment by Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP national general secretary, who said that the NRC will be implemented in West Bengal but “not a single Hindu will have to leave the country”.
“As the national general secretary of BJP I want to assure all of you that the NRC will be implemented but not a single Hindu will have to leave the country. Each and every Hindu will be given citizenship,” he said at a programme during an event in Kolkata on September 25.
Also Read: Why the Proposed Citizenship Amendment Runs Foul of Constitutional Provisions
But political experts believe that the excessive thrust on the NRC might backfire for the saffron party in the West Bengal assembly polls, scheduled for 2021. Prof Sibaji Pritam Basu, a political commentator in Kolkata, said that the fear psychosis is running high not only in Muslims but also among Hindus who are living in upscale localities in Kolkata.
“Many had crossed the border at some point. The NRC will not only push Muslims into trouble but would also cause anguish to Hindus who will face similar issues to prove their citizenship. If the same issue is treated differently for Hindus and Muslims, it might lead to violence and a complete breakdown of law and order,” he said.
Basu said that the NRC in Assam was mandated by the Assam Accord, but there is no such provision for Bengal. “The political agenda of the BJP to welcome the Hindus as refugees while describing Muslims as ‘infiltrators’ might boomerang in the state polls,” he said.
Gurvinder Singh is a journalist based in Kolkata.
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