‘My father came from Bangladesh’: Tripura CM Biplab on NRC
A video clip of Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has gone viral on social media, where he is purportedly seen saying the National Register of Citizens (NRC) revision in his state would cost him his Chief Ministership, reports Indian Express.
Deb is seen in the video saying his father and relatives came from Bangladesh and if NRC is implemented in Tripura, he would be among those affected by it, by losing his CM’s chair.
“If I implement it in my state…….My relatives, my father came from Bangladesh. He has got his citizenship card…After that, I was born in Tripura. So, if anyone suffers a loss due to NRC, I shall lose my Chief Ministership first. Am I a fool that I shall implement NRC to lose CM-ship?” Deb is seen saying in the video clip.
The clip was widely shared on Facebook, Twitter and different social media platforms, triggering a volley of comments from netizens. Some of them reminded him he would be safe since the Citizenship Amendment Bill is also being moved by the Government of India, while some others were critical of his statement.
The video clip is an extract of a press conference by the Chief Minister at Raiganj and Kaliyaganj in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, where he went on a bye-election campaign two days ago.
Deb’s motorcade was not allowed to move on the regular route and was prescribed an alternative route. He later held a pres conference and criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for purportedly ‘insulting’ him by stopping his movements.
Indianexpress.com tried to confirm the facts of the video clip with the Chief Minister’s Office. The CM’s Media Advisor Sanjay Mishra said the video clip was “taken out of context for dirty politics” by some in order to confuse people.
In the full video clip of CM Deb’s press conference, he is seen saying that NRC and Citizenship Amendment Bill are meant to protect Indians from “illegal immigrants, foreign infiltrators, thieves and dacoits”.
Slamming Mamata for opposing NRC and CAB, Biplab Deb said in the press conference, “One should understand about NRC and CAB before speaking about them. I don’t think West Bengal CM studies and talks about things. She speaks on impulse.”
He said CAB seeks to grant asylum to people of Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Sikh communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afganisthan, since they are minorities there. “People from majority communities of those countries don’t suffer human rights violations there. If they want to sneak inside India in the dead of the night, how can that be allowed? Government of India is protecting people with NRC and CAB. Thieves, dacoits, illegal immigrants and foreign infiltrators will suffer from them,” Deb claimed.
Giving his own example to drive the point home, Deb made the statement that has now gone viral. “This propaganda is being done to confuse people. NRC and CAB will benefit Indians,” he said in the same sentence.
Earlier, on August 9, 2018, Deb had said there was no need to revise NRC in Tripura as there was no public demand for it.
NRC is being revised in Assam for the first time since 1951 under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The final list released in September this year has excluded 19,06,657 people. They can now appeal to tribunals.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently said in the Parliament that NRC would be implemented across India. He also expressed confidence about implementing CAB and said nobody needed to be afraid about it.
