Fear over NRC grips Kolkata and districts, two more commit suicide
Kolkata, Sep 24: Amidst fears that NRC could be implemented in West Bengal hundreds of people on Tuesday queued up at government and municipal offices here and across the state for necessary documents, while two persons allegedly committed suicide for failing to procure the requisite certificates to prove their citizenship, officials said.
With the two suicides, the number of those dead in alleged fear over NRC rose to eight in the state, they said.
According to the police the two - one 25-year-old man and another 50 years old had committed suicide at Dhupguri and Jalpaiguri areas of north Bengal.
While one took his life by hanging himself the other had jumped into a well, the police said adding no suicide note was found, the police said.
"Family members and neighbours of both the men have claimed that they were depressed over not being able to gather proper documents needed to prove their citizenship. We have started an investigation into both the cases," a senior West Bengal police official said.
According to government sources two others had committed suicide in the districts over NRC fears and four had died after falling ill while standing in queues with thousands of villagers at different government offices to get their documents.
The omission of a large number of Hindu Bengalis from the final NRC list in BJP-ruled Assam has evidently created fear among the people in West Bengal, which has seen influx of millions of people from Bangladesh.
The repeated assertions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the Lok Sabha poll campaign that NRC would be implemented in West Bengal has apparently deepened the fear.
Large queues were seen outside Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) headquarters and other division offices in the city and BDO offices in other parts of Bengal as people waited for their turn in search of land and other necessary documents.
"I have come to the KMC office to collect my birth certificate as I had lost it long back. I have heard that we need to have our birth certificates to prove that we are citizens of this country in case NRC is implemented in Bengal," said 75-year-old Ajit Ray, who was seen standing outside the civic body's headquarters in the city.
55-year-old Bimal Mondal was seen standing outside the land records department of KMC in search of documents of land procurement in the city by his parents five decades ago.
In rural Bengal similar picture was witnessed outside various government and panchayat offices.
"What will we do if we are declared foreigners though we were born and brought up in this country ? From where will I get documents of my father being born in this country?" 25-year-old Khalque Mollah of South 24 Parganas district said.
A person had committed suicide at Falta in the district on Sunday allegedly in fear over the NRC.
More than 19 lakh people in Assam have been excluded from the recently published final NRC on August 31, out of which around 12 lakh are Hindus.
The TMC government asserted that it will not allow implementation of the contentious NRC in the state.
"We are requesting the people not to panic at all.
There will be no NRC in Bengal. The TMC government will never allow it. As long as TMC government is in power not a single person will be touched," Kolkata Mayor and senior minister Firhad Hakim told reporters.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused BJP of creating panic over NRC and had iterated she will not allow NRC exercise in the state.
The BJP leaders in Bengal have blamed Banerjee and her party, the TMC for creating a panic over NRC in Bengal to instill fear in the Hindus.
"Only TMC will be responsible for the deaths over NRC in the state. We have clearly said all the Hindus who have come from other countries will be given citizenship under Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) and then NRC will be implemented to weed out the infiltrators," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.
The CAB, 2019 provided for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years, which is the current norm, even if they do not possess any document.
The legislation was passed by Lok Sabha during its winter session on January 8 but could not be cleared by the upper house and lapsed.
Top BJP leader of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday that the Centre will reintroduce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament in November.
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Bengal: Over 55 pc turnout till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of 2 assembly seats
Kolkata (PTI): Over 55 per cent turnout was recorded till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of two assembly constituencies in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, an official said.
Voting was underway more or less peacefully at 11 polling stations of Magrahat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where the EC ordered repoll a day ago, following reports of electoral malpractices.
However, at booth number 179 at Chanda Primary School of Diamond Harbour seat, the Trinamool Congress alleged that a specially abled voter and his mother were harassed by central forces. The alleged incident sparked protests by party workers and locals.
The TMC claimed that the voter's mother, who had entered the booth to assist him, and her son were detained for a considerable time by central forces over alleged rule violations.
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"TMC leaders Manmohini Biswas and Pratik Ur Rahman reached the spot and led the protests, with residents terming the action unwarranted harassment. The matter has been taken care of by our officials there," an official of the poll body said.
Polling was otherwise peaceful across 15 booths in the area, he added.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, the official said, adding that till 1 pm, the turnout was 55.57 per cent.
Magrahat Paschim registered 56.33 per cent voter turnout, while in Diamond Harbour, it was 54.9 per cent, a poll official stated.
Voting in these two assembly constituencies was held in the second phase of the state elections on April 29.
The repoll order was based on reports received from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and "material circumstances", the Election Commission official said.
In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP nominee Goursundar Ghosh, while Abdul Majid Halder of the Congress and ISF candidate Abdul Aziz Al Hassan are also in the fray.
TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder is contesting against Dipak Kumar Halder of the BJP in the Diamond Harbour seat. Goutam Bhattacharya of the Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya are among other candidates.
The BJP had alleged rampant electoral malpractices in certain polling stations of both the assembly seats under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The EC had deputed its special observer, Subrata Gupta, to fact-check the allegations from the ground.
The poll panel will decide on repolling in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.
The West Bengal assembly elections were held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- amid unprecedented security arrangements.
Counting of votes will take place on May 4.
