Ask Trump if extraditing 19 lakh people from Assam is possible: Chidambaram to Modi
Chennai: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the CAA, NRC and NPR, telling him to ask visiting US President Donald Trump if it was possible to extradite as many as 19 lakh people from Assam.
Addressing a meet here against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the former Minister, citing the BJP's brute majority in Parliament, asked what was the guarantee that the government would not bring in an amendment, similar to the CAA, to give a push to its idea of a "Hindu" country.
Alleging that there was a great threat to the Constitution and the need to save it, he said countries were now asking questions over the CAA.
"U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he will ask questions about the CAA even before his arrival. If six to 10 lakh people are going to be affected, will the visiting leader go without posing questions?," he asked.
The European Parliament, UNHRC and a United States panel on religious freedom were all asking questions, calling upon the government to give up the contentious law.
"We know who will be affected. The government is hiding that. The world (countries) is not a fool; it is awake that this will bring a huge threat to Muslims on the basis of their religion," he said, adding most countries have started asking questions.
The CAA was "a tool" evolved to retain 12 lakh Hindus and send out seven lakh Muslims in Assam, he alleged.
While there are countries which have stopped illegal immigration, there was no country that extradited as many as 19 lakh people, he said.
"Which country has extradited 19 lakh people? If Narendra Modi has any doubt, he can ask American President Donald Trump and he will answer," he said.
He asked if the US president, who had all along talked about sending back those from Mexico, was successful.
"Where to send 19 lakh people ? Which country is ready to accept them? Through which mode of transport will you send them?" he asked.
Tracing the background to the NRC, beginning with the Assam accord, to determine foreigners, he said his party had cautioned -as early as when the survey was mooted- that it would lead to social discord.
While 40 lakh people were identified as foreigners in the exercise initially, a review pegged it at 19,06,657, he said.
As soon as it came to be known that 12 lakh of them were Hindus and seven lakh Muslims, the Centre found itself in a quandary as all of them had to be sent out of the country.
"The NRC in Assam is a very big failure," he said.
To overcome the "predicament" of 12 lakh Hindus, the government came up with the CAA, he said.
Alleging that the government was lying about the law, he said the Ministers too were lying.
"A big lie is that the law (CAA) will not affect people who are in India. Will those in Africa will be affected,?" he asked sarcastically.
The CAA wants to send only Muslims out of the country while allowing others to stay put and the law has been challenged on grounds, including religious discrimination, in the Supreme Court, he said.
If the BJP-led Centre could bring the CAA, which was tantamount to impinging on the basic features of the Constitution, there was no guarantee that the government will not bring other amendments, he said.
"Why will you not bring other amendments tomorrow? What is the confidence that you will not declare (India) a Hindu country in view of the brute majority?," he asked.
The RSS and BJP were spreading "venomous views" that those belonging to the same 'gotra' should not get married.
"What is the confidence that this will not become a law (forbidding same gotra marriages),?" he asked.
"Mischievous" questions have been included in NPR like place of birth of parents, their birth dates, mother tongue, Aadhar card, driving licence, Permanent Account Number and passport.
"Why are you asking these questions?," he said, adding this was an effort to identify people as foreigners through their parents if they cannot be directly named as such.
"That is why there is a scare among the people. The NPR exercise should be given up completely and this is our demand.
NPR is not necessary. Ask questions in the Census."
The NRC drive must not be done at all and should be given up completely and instead, a census should be undertaken.
The senior leader demanded that the government rescind the CAA. "Otherwise the Supreme Court should declare it as null and void."
The Constitution, he said, does not allow discrimination on the basis of religion and citizenship is based on the principle of territory and not religion.
Countering a claim against protests while the matter is pending in the apex court, he wondered whether the agitations were not held while the Ayodhya case was pending in the top court.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
