1. Won’t Rest Till CAA Is Repealed: CM
Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday came down heavily on Amit Shah and said she wouldn’t rest till the new citizenship matrix was repealed, before hurling specific questions at the Union home minister who had announced barely twenty-four hours ago there was no question of going back on the amended citizenship law.
The Bengal chief minister, who led a 4km protest march through the Darjeeling town, congratulated the hill people for the success of the rally against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens.
“Please keep alive this movement until the CAA, NPR and the NRC are withdrawn. This is a fight for our lives, this is a question of our rights, this is a question of our citizenship, a question of our dignity, of our land, our unity, a question of a united India,” she said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. Mamata in Darjeeling: None Can Rob Gorkhas Of Citizenship
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took her protest against the new citizenship law to the hills on Wednesday, leading a massive anti-CAA rally from Bhanu Bhawan near Chowrasta, where three years ago, the Bimal Gurung faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had staged a stir against the Bengal government.
Banerjee got a rousing response for her protest rally, indicating that her opposition to CAA and NRC had found resonance with the Gorkhas.
Besides supporters of the Binay Tamang faction of GJM, the rally saw participation of development boards and members of various associations, including Bishop Stephen Lepcha, representing the Christian community.
(Source: The Times Of India)
3. BJP Rally At Falakata
Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh led a march in support of the Narendra Modi government’s citizenship drives at Falakata in Alipurduar district on Wednesday, the same day Mamata Banerjee took out a procession against the Centre in Darjeeling.
The BJP march that was attended by around 20,000 people started from Falakata Station More and ended at Falakata Chowpathy, which is a distance of 1.5km.
“Residents of Falakata have proved that they are with us. Mamata Banerjee and her party are rattled over the CAA and so launched a campaign. But people are not buying her arguments. This is because during the past 70 years, parties like Trinamul, CPM and the Congress won elections in Bengal with the votes of infiltrators. Now, Trinamul has realised that if the CAA is implemented, the infiltrators will be out of the voters’ list and these parties will lose the polls,” said Ghosh.
Ghosh later told journalists that the chief minister must have seen the gathering in Falakata.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. 2 Women Mistaken For NRC Surveyors Attacked
A 20-year-old woman working for a state-approved digital literacy programme was attacked by villagers in Birbhum who suspected her to be collecting data for NRC. The woman’s home in Gourbazar village under Mallarpur police station was set ablaze early on Wednesday even as she took refuge in the local police station. None have been arrested in this connection yet.
As an employee of Google India and Tata Trusts’ digital literacy initiative for rural women, Internet Saathi, Chumki Khatun’s job included training village girls on the use of smartphones and basic Internet applications. As part of the project, she was collecting details and documents from the girls taking part in the programme. Internet Sathi’s initiative in rural Bengal had even been advertised by the district administration. But the locals were not convinced by Khatun’s claims or the administration’s pleas.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Heroin Route: UP To Bangladesh Via Kolkata
The special task force of Kolkata Police, probing into the heroin haul worth Rs 105 crore in the international grey market, found that the contraband was to reach the city from UP where it was mingled with the mixture coming from northeast before being smuggled across “international borders”.
“Such a huge consignment cannot be meant only for this city or the state. We believe this was to be taken to the border areas for smuggling into Bangladesh. Such a corridor has been in existence from early 2000 when we busted a gang that used a similar modus operandi. There was even a shoot-out with gang members and the UP STF,” sources said.
Cops are certain that both the accused — Maulana Fayazuddin (49) from Manipur and Juber (40) from UP — were trying to mix two types of drugs following the demands of different customers from across the country.
(Source: The Times Of India)
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