NRC Nightmare In Bengal's Backyard

Disguised as a harmless census exercise, NRC comes to Bengal as NPR

- Rajat Roy

West Bengal is cowering under two diseases—dengue and the National Register of Citizens panic. The first one is seasonal; the latter is potentially permanent. Both are grim reapers. In 2019, Bengal leads the country in dengue­related deaths, with the figure till August reaching 22. But its spread—Calcutta and neighbou­ring districts—is limited, and cha n ging seasons hold the promise of a respite.

But fear of NRC has the state in a vicelike grip—allegedly causing 11 deaths (some of them suicides) till September 25. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on September 23 claimed that the lurking fear led five to take their own lives. Though there is no official count, people trying to organize protests against NRC have collated a list of 20 NRC-related deaths. The district-wise break-up shows an even spread—from Cooch Behar in North Bengal to North 24 Parganas in the south, via West Medinipur and 10 other districts.

Ever since Assam’s final NRC list was released on August 31, fear spread in Bengal about the impending peril. A mad scramble began for gathering legacy papers. But many a poor villager returned empty-handed from government offices—land ownership documents were not found; some could not get Aadhaar cards made. As the specter of banishment stalked the land, the deaths started. Tasleema Bibi tried hard to obtain an Aadhaar card for her and her husband. Driven to distraction, then despair, she died on September 25 in Hingangunj, N. 24 Parganas.

On October 1, at a Calcutta rally, Union home minister Amit Shah further stoked the fire when he said Bengal would see the NRC exercise only after the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. Mamata’s assurances that there won’t be NRC in Bengal are failing to convince, confesses a person close to her.