Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that six people have died due to panic created over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and asserted the exercise will not be implemented in the state.
“I am sad that 6 people have died in Bengal due to panic created over NRC. We will never allow NRC here. Please have faith in me,” she said while speaking at a Trade Union meeting here.
In the final NRC list published on August 31 for Assam, a total of 3,11,21,004 persons are found eligible for inclusion in final list leaving out 19,06,657 persons, including those who did not submit their claims.
The list is aimed at segregating Indian citizens living in Assam from those who had illegally entered the state from Bangladesh. Speaking on the clashes at Jadavpur University, Banerjee said that protests are important in a democracy.
“I believe protests are important in a democracy. The day protests lose their value, India will stop being India. Democracy still exists in Bengal while there is no democracy at a few places. We have seen what happened at Jadavpur University,” she said.
Jadavpur University’s Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Pradip Ghosh at AMRI Hospital, where they are currently undergoing treatment following the clashes at the university.
The clashes erupted in the University on Thursday after Union Minister for the State, Babul Supriyo, went there to participate in a freshers event.
The protestors allegedly heckled him and blocked his way, forcing him to stay at the campus for hours.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar finally went to the site to “rescue” him and took him out in his car. The Governor had called the incident a “reflection of law and order situation” in the state, a statement which was strongly objected by the ruling Trinamool Congress.