Mamata Banerjee Alleges BJP's Citizenship Agenda Behind Aadhaar Deactivations in Bengal

Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of attempting to impose its divisive citizenship issue on the state on Monday, citing reports of Aadhaar cards being deactivated from different areas of Bengal.

She pledged to oppose the establishment of detention facilities in Bengal and any National Register of Citizens (NRC) effort, which aims to identify illegal immigrants based on a limited number of documents and legacy records dating back decades.


Similar to what they did in Assam, they are attempting to bring in the NRC here. I'll donate blood, but I won't consent to the NRC's implementation. The chief minister said during a press conference that "we will not allow them to build detention centers in Bengal."

Mamata's opposition to the National Population Register (NPR), the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which expedites citizenship for non-Muslim asylum seekers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, and the NRC, which many see as a three-pronged ploy to target Muslims, has so far paid political dividends.

Her remarks on Monday indicate that she intends to use the citizenship triangle as a significant electoral platform in Bengal, a state with a population that is over 28% minority and 46% SC, ST, and OBC combined.

Reports of individuals in Bengal getting letters from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) informing them that their Aadhaar numbers had been deactivated and that their "requirement to stay in the country has not been fulfilled" served as the impetus for Mamata's press conference.

These complaints have come in from places like East Burdwan, Nadia, and North 24-Parganas.

On Monday, Mamata wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing her "really shocked" state and her need for clarification.

"Every state resident is terrified about this situation. Without giving any specific explanations, I would want to hear from you what led to this behavior," she wrote.

"Is the sole intention to deny the eligible recipients of the benefit or to incite fear among the general public in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections?"

To be eligible for several welfare benefits and services, one must have an Aadhaar number.

During the press conference, Mamata said that the sudden push to deactivate or block the important identity document was primarily targeting members of the working class, SCs, STs, and religious minorities.

The Center didn't even think it was necessary to get in touch with the individuals whose Aadhaar cards were revoked. The population will lose access to extremely basic services as a result, including banking. Will the BJP start the NRC before the next election? She enquired.

She said that every card that had been canceled was valid and that doing so had broken Aadhaar regulations.

Is the BJP intending to take the CAA and then steal the Aadhaar cards first? What occurred unexpectedly before the elections? What kind of planning goes into this? She enquired.

Do they want to establish camps for imprisonment similar to those in Assam? Particularly, minorities, SCs, and STs are being targeted.

Mamata said that she had received a letter from the Tapashili Federation claiming that the majority had been Namashudras and Matuas, a crucial electoral base that the BJP has been courting for years.

"This behavior is jomidari, or feudal. There will come a day when people would cast those who are toying with fire by using the Aadhaar cards into aandhaar (darkness), Mamata remarked.

"We are your paharadar (guards), not jomidars. I promise everyone that the NRC would never be permitted in Bengal. Bengali incarceration camps will not be permitted. After been promised citizenship, the members of the Matua community are now referred to as outsiders. Is this not treating them with disdain?

The Bengal BJP seems to be alarmed by the controversy surrounding the deactivation of Aadhaar and Mamata's effort to connect it to a potential NRC deployment. Rather of aggressively pushing the citizenship matrix, its management attempted to downplay the accusations and calm any concerns.

Shantanu Thakur, a junior Union minister and Matua leader, said that "a technical fault led to the deactivation of some Aadhaar cards, resulting in the non-functionality of associated bank accounts."

"Union electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union home minister Amit Shah entrusted me with the responsibility of addressing this issue today."

"The impacted cards will be reactivated in a few days," he said, adding that the deactivation procedure has been stopped.

The head of the opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, praised Shah and Vaishnaw while pointing the finger of fault at the UIDAI's Ranchi regional office.

Sukanta Majumdar, the leader of the state BJP, promised that the issue will be resolved by Monday night. He said that Vaishnaw had informed him that around 54,000 Aadhaar cards were impacted by the issue.

"Mamata Banerjee and Trinamul Congress took advantage of the situation to create panic by disseminating false information linking the cancellation of Aadhaar cards to the NRC," Majumdar added. "This is just the ruling party's attempt to deflect criticism away from Sandeshkhali."

An estimated 19 lakh persons, of whom 5.5 lakh are Muslims, were left off of the final NRC in Assam. Assam has established a network of detention facilities, all housed within jails, for those who are eventually deemed "illegal immigrants" by foreigner courts after being omitted from the NRC.

Prior to her remarks on Monday, Mamata had brought up the matter in the Assembly on Thursday and at a public gathering in Birbhum on Sunday.

A Trinamul official said, "It is far more likely to yield electoral dividends to rekindle a deep-seated fear of personal harm among many individuals in the fairly immediate future than it is to elicit a general, public outrage over a socio-political issue in a pocket of the state."

"Because Mamata Banerjee is no longer in the Opposition, a panic over citizenship can therefore have a much more lasting impact than something like Sandeshkhali."

"We don't believe in disrespecting anyone from any community," Mamata said. However, why are they (the BJP) engaging in this shady activity now? This scheme is fascist. The Bharatiya Jonjaal (Garbage) Party is the source of all troubles.

UIDAI declaration

According to PTI's report from New Delhi on Monday, the UIDAI said that although notifications are sent to Aadhaar number holders periodically to keep the Aadhaar database current, no numbers have been revoked.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.