Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has stated yesterday that it is a humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants and her state West Bengal will take care of anyone seeking shelter.
Commemorating International Migrant’s day, Mamata Banerjee Tweeted yesterday that West Bengal will take care of migrants to the best of its abilities.
Today is International Migrants Day. It is our humanitarian obligation to give refuge to migrants. In #Bangla we will take care of anyone who seeks shelter in our State, to the best of our abilities
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 18, 2018
Banerjee also marked Minority Rights Day on Monday. Ironically adding that all people are equal and unity in diversity is a strength, she emphasised that her government has distributed ‘minority scholarships’ to over 1.7 crore students, the highest in the country.
Today is #MinorityRightsDay. We are all equal and united. Unity in diversity is our strength. You will be happy to know that in #Bangla, we have distributed scholarships to over 1.7 crore minority students, the highest in the country. My best wishes to all
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 18, 2018
It is notable here that Mamata Banerjee has been vocally critical of the BJP led central government over the NRC final draft published in the state of Assam where over 40 lakh people were not included. The NRC has been prepared as per the Supreme Court’s order to tackle the demographic imbalance in the state following an unchecked influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries.
Mamata Banerjee, known for her minority appeasement policies, had even gone on to say that there will be a civil war and bloodbath if the NRC in Assam is implemented.
Her stand over the Assam NRC has been in stark contrast to her own complaint a few years ago when she had roared in Lok Sabha that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have created a disaster in West Bengal.
West Bengal has been a constant concern for national security agencies for its porous borders. Millions of illegal Bangladesh immigrants, and in recent times Rohingyas from Myanmar have been able to infiltrate into India without check and many have been able to obtain Indian identity documents with the help of local Muslims. Modules of the Bangladeshi terror group JMB have reportedly also been operational in India after many top terrorists were able to cross the border in West Bengal and obtained help from local Muslims in the state.
In 2016, the central home ministry had informed the Rajya Sabha that over 2 crore illegal immigrants from Bangladesh alone are residing in India. West Bengal is the home for the highest percentage of Bangladeshi squatters.
