BUNIYADPUR (WEST BENGAL): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday clarified that she had on Tuesday said migrants from East Paskistan or Bangladesh to India were Indian citizens in the spirit of the Liaquat-Nehru Pact of 1950 and Indira-Mujib Treaty of 1972 and warned the media she would take legal action if her words were distorted.
Addressing party workers in South Dinajpur district, Banerjee said till August 15, 1947, there was only one country, India. “After 1947, when people came as refugees to India, there was a Liaquat-Nehru Pact. According to that, those who came to India as refugees are Indian citizens,” she said, referring to the understanding signed by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Pakistan counterpart Liaquat Ali Khan.
She also referred to the The India-Bangladesh Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace signed in 1972 between Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Bangladesh counterpart Mjibur Rahman months after Bangladesh emerged as a liberated nation.
“I have only spoken in that light. Have I said anything wrong? If my words are distorted, law will take its course,” she said.
On Tuesday, addressing a meeting in Kaliaganj of North Dinajpur district, Banerjee had said: “All those who came to India from Bangladesh and voted in Indian elections were citizens of the country, and don’t nead to apply afresh for citizenship.
“Those people who have come to India from Bangladesh are all Indian citizens, they have citizenship. They have been voting in one election after another… electing prime ministers and chief ministers.
“Now, they (BJP and Sangh Parivar) are saying you are not Indian citizens. Don’t believe them. There is no need for you to apply for citizenship again,” she said.
