CM Mamata dares Amit Shah to show birth certificate, slams SIR and NRC push at Jhargram rally

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday addressed a rally in Jhargram, where she alleged that Bengali-speaking migrants were being targeted in the name of citizenship verification and voter list revision. She accused the BJP of harassing Bengalis and warned that she would expose what she called attacks on the Bengali language and people. “They are saying there is no language called Bengali. I will expose them before the world,” she said.

Banerjee criticised the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that it was an attempt to create a separate list in favour of a political party. “Not a single elector should be omitted from the voter list in the name of SIR. They are trying to make a BJP list, not a voter list,” she stated. She alleged that the SIR process was being used as a method to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal.

The Chief Minister raised concern over the reported suicides linked to the fear of NRC. “People are already dying by suicide out of fear,” she said. She questioned the legitimacy of demands for proof of citizenship and challenged the BJP leadership, saying, “Do BJP leaders themselves have their birth certificates? What right do they have to question the identity of others?”

She declared from the stage that no officer of any state government would be dismissed in connection with the SIR or NRC. She asked, “How can someone be branded a Bangladeshi just because he or she speaks in Bengali?” The rally saw participation from migrant families, students, and local community members.