City
Epaper

Mamata leads anti-CAA march through Darjeeling

By IANS | Updated: January 22, 2020 14:35 IST

With hundreds matching her steps, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday led a colourful rally through the heart of the north Bengal hill town here railing against the new citizenship law CAA and a proposed nationwide NRC.

Open in App

Hundreds of Tricolours and flags of other hues fluttered, as Gorkhas and other people living in the hills joined the five-kilometre long march from Bhanubhakta Bhavan to Chawkbazar in their traditional colourful attires, with many of the participants playing local musical instruments.

The rallyists shouted slogan "No NRC, No CAA, No NPR", and carried aloft posters and banners decrying the "unconstitutional CAA", while winding through the narrow hilly lanes.

A large number of people stood on both sides of the rally route watching the participants, who seemed in high spirits singing songs and clapping.

The Binay Tamang faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha took part in the rally, with their supporters joining in strength, alongside West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress activists.

Some other parties having presence in the North Bengal hills lent moral support to the rally.

The CAA, passed in Parliament last month, seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christ, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014.

As per the Act, such communities will not be treated as illegal immigrants now and will be given Indian citizenship.

The Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has been going all out against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Population Register and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Banerjee has been regularly leading rallies and addressing pubic meetings on these issues.

The political programme is also very significant for the Trinamool Congress, which had fared miserably during the general elections in entire North Bengal, including Darjeeling, failing to win even one of the eight seats in the region. The BJP won seven seats, while one went to the Congress.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: Trinamool CongressNorth BengalCAAWest Bengalnrc
Open in App

Related Stories

NationalSchools Shut, Leaves of Security Personnel Cancelled, Border States on High Alert Amid Escalating India-Pakistan Tensions

National'Murshidabad Violence Was Planed, Won’t Tolerate Rioters': Mamata Banerjee

Social ViralWatch: Man Slaps and Drags Dehydrated Horse on Busy Kolkata Road, FIR Filed After Video Goes Viral

NationalSrijani Mukherjee: 17-Year-Old ISC Topper From Kolkata Removes Surname For Humanity

NationalWest Bengal Fire: Blaze Broke out in Salt Lake Sector 5 Kolkata; No Casualties Reported

National Realted Stories

NationalDG BSF, personnel pay tribute to martyred soldier killed in Pak cross-border firing in Jammu

NationalSearch op launched to nab intruder after soldier injured in firing at Jammu's Nagrota Army station

NationalPak PM Shehbaz Sharif addresses nation after ceasefire agreement amid violation of deal across LoC, IB

National'War is not India's choice': NSA Doval speaks to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi amid India-Pak tensions

NationalMP govt to organise regional agri-conclave in Narsinghpur, Satna