Foreigners Tribunal notice: Mamata calls for joint fight against BJP’s ‘divisive’ policies

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she was shocked and disturbed to learn that the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam had issued a notice to a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar, declaring him an illegal migrant. Ms. Banerjee claimed that a premeditated attempt is being made to “intimidate, disenfranchise, and target” marginalised communities.

Terming the situation “alarming”, the Trinamool Congress chairperson urged all Opposition parties to unite against what she described as the BJP’s “divisive and oppressive machinery”.

“Bengal will not stand by as the constitutional fabric of India is torn apart,” Ms. Banerjee posted on social media platform X. Ms. Banerjee highlighted the case of Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a Rajbanshi and resident of Dinhata for over five decades, who has received the notice from Assam, despite never having lived there.

She described the notice as “nothing short of a systematic assault on democracy”. The Chief Minister said the resident was being harassed on suspicion of being a “foreigner/illegal migrant” despite submitting valid identity documents.

She accused the BJP-led government in Assam of trying to “implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal, where it has no jurisdiction”. The incident comes amid reports of migrant workers from West Bengal, working in various parts of the country, being covertly pushed into Bangladesh with the involvement of security agencies. More than half a dozen such workers have been brought back after intervention by the West Bengal government.

Ms. Banerjee also raised concerns over the revision of electoral rolls in neighbouring Bihar, accusing the Election Commission of attempting to implement the NRC “through the back door”. Mr. Brajabasi told journalists that neither he nor his forefathers had ever visited Assam. He has also approached the local Block Development Office with all his citizenship documents.

‘False narrative’

BJP West Bengal general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay claimed a “false narrative” was being spread by Ms. Banerjee regarding a notice allegedly issued by a court in Assam. He said that the Assam Chief Minister had already decided to exclude the Koch-Rajbanshi community from the NRC process and that the State Cabinet had resolved to withdraw all pending NRC-related cases against them.

“DGPAssamPolice, take strong action against those who are igniting social disharmony in West Bengal,” he posted on X.