Kolkata 3 Jan: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed at a rally in Tumakuru, Karnataka that Congress and its allies never speak against Pakistan, but take out rallies against the refugees who were forced to come to India, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday attacked Modi questioning him on what prompts him to glorify Pakistan and always compare India with Pakistan.
Launching a verbal tirade against Modi at an anti CAA rally in Siliguri, Banerjee said: “Why do you compare our nation with Pakistan? Why are you obsessed with Pakistan? Why do you glorify Pakistan on every occasion instead of Hindustan? Are you the Ambassador of Pakistan?”
She said: “We are not Pakistanis and we love Hindustan. Hamara Desh ka bara Loktantra hain (We have a larger democracy in India) Haar Baath Mein Pakistan Ko Kyun Charcha Karte Hain (Why do you always speak about Pakistan in every occasion). Pakistan ka charcha Pakistan kare, hum Hindustan ka charcha karenga, yeh humaari janmabhoomi hai (Pakistan can talk about themselves as much as they want, we should talk about Hindustan, this is our motherland.”
She added: “If someone says give me a job, Prime Minister Modi said go to Pakistan. India is a big country with rich culture and heritage; why do you regularly compare our nation with Pakistan?”
Political analysts are of the opinion that although Banerjee wants to keep her Muslim vote bank intact and does not want it to be divided, she is not in favour of Pakistan and thereby she wanted to be vocal about it making the BJP leaders hear it, who accused her of lending support to Pakistan.
Amol Mukherjee a senior political analysts said ” Mamata’s speech indicated that she is not in favour of Pakistan although BJP leaders accused him of lending support to Pakistan.”
Banerjee said: “They (BJP leaders) only know how to divide the nation on the basis of religion. But my religion is to defend the freedom of people. This is our second freedom struggle, always remember this, to save the country from religious bigotry,” she said.
She also said: “It’s a shame that even after 70 years of Independence, we have to prove our citizenship.”
Banerjee also accused the BJP of “deliberately” creating confusion over the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC), as their leaders are making contradictory statements on the issue.
“On one hand the Prime Minister is saying there will be no NRC but on the other, the union home minister and other ministers are claiming that the exercise will be conducted across the country,” she added.
BJP leaders, however, claimed that on several occasion they have seen that Miss Banerjee speaking the language of Pakistan and that’s why they felt that she is trying to safeguard the interest of the Pakistani people.
Dilip Ghosh , state BJP president, said: “Banerjee has demanded a United Nations-monitored referendum on the CAA and the NRC, and she always speaks against the interest of the country. It’s shocking to see that she spoke against Pakistan today. She is only concerned about her vote bank and she is doing a drama to get sympathy of the people. But people have already left her.”