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

NationalWBPSC Miscellaneous Preliminary Result 2025 Declared at psc.wb.gov.in; 10,229 Candidates Qualify for Mains – Know How to Check and Download PDF

NationalWest Bengal Accident: 4 Killed After SUV Collides With Truck on NH-16 in Midnapore (Watch Video)

NationalWest Bengal Crime: TMC Leader Rajjak Khan Brutally Shot and Stabbed to Death in Bhangar After Party Meeting

NationalWest Bengal: Truck Falls Off Kharagpur Flyover onto Railway Tracks Amid Heavy Rain; Driver Dead, One Injured

NationalHowrah Fire: Huge Blaze Erupts at Factory Near Alampur on National Highway 116 in West Bengal (Watch Video)

National Realted Stories

NationalFrom Pahalgam to Op Sindoor: INDIA bloc finalises common agenda to corner Centre in Parliament

NationalUP Shocker: School Van Driver Accused of Assaulting Four-year-old Girl in Lucknow

NationalStudents, teacher escape as plaster falls off ceiling in Bhopal school

NationalMP: Harda college sparks outrage over naming chicken breed after ‘Narmada’

NationalGST row: K'taka BJP launches helpline for protecting small traders' interests