Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has pledged to fight “untill last drop of blood” for the people’s “rights” after another man ended his life, fearing deportation following the Election Commission’s announcement of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in the Assembly poll-bound state.
The latest victim, Khitish Majumder (95), was from Korapara village at Kotwali in West Midnapore. He was staying at his daughter’s house at Schoolbagan Subhaspally in Ilambazar of Birbhum over the last five months. On Thursday morning, Majumder was hanging dead in a room there.
His family member, Nirmala Majumder, said, “He was worried for the last couple of days fearing his deportation across the border as his name was not in the 2002 SIR list.” Superintendent of Police (Birbhum) Amandeep said, “The cause of suicide that came to light was fear in the deceased about SIR.”
In the afternoon, Ms Banerjee posted on X-handle, “We are witnessing the tragic consequences of the BJP’s politics of fear, division and hate. Within 72 hours of the Election Commission’s announcement of the SIR exercise in Bengal – An exercise bulldozed through at the BJP’s behest. One avoidable tragedy after another has occurred.”
She then observed, “On October 27, 57-year-old Pradeep Kar of Panihati, Khardaha died by suicide, leaving a note that read, “NRC is responsible for my death.” On October 28, a 63-year-old man from Dinhata, Cooch Behar attempted to take his life, terrified of harassment under the SIR process. And today, 95-year-old Khitish Majumder from Kotwali, Paschim Medinipur living with his daughter in Ilambazar, Birbhum ended his life, gripped by the fear that he and his family might be dispossessed of their land.”
The CM wondered, “Who will answer for these avoidable, politically inflicted tragedies? Will the Home Minister accept responsibility? Will the BJP and its allies, under whose watch this fear psychosis has spread, find the courage to speak out? A 95-year-old man, who has given his life to this soil, forced to die to prove he belongs to it. What could be a deeper wound on the nation’s conscience? This is not just tragedy- It is betrayal of humanity itself.”
She pointed out, “For generations, the people of Bengal have lived with dignity. Today they are being forced to ask whether they still belong to the land of their birth. This cruelty is unconscionable and must not be allowed to stand. I appeal to every citizen: Do not be provoked, do not lose faith,l and do not take any extreme step. Our Maa-Mati-Manush Sarkar stands with you.”
The Trinamul Congress supremo claimed, “We will not allow the NRC to be implemented in Bengal – neither through the front door, nor through the back door. We will not permit a single legitimate citizen to be branded an “outsider.” Until the last drop of our blood, we will fight to protect the rights of the people and to defeat the BJP and their allies’ nefarious agenda to tear apart the social fabric of our nation.”
Countering the CM, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya however alleged, “Mamata Banerjee’s blatant lies over the tragic suicide of 57-year-old Pradeep Kar of Panihati have already been exposed, as she shamelessly tried to link his death with the NRC. Now, she has outdone herself by stooping to an abysmal new low! This time, she is politicising the death of 95-year-old Khitish Majumdar by falsely connecting it with fears of SIR and NRC.”
He claimed, “It is flabbergasting how arrogantly she assumes that the people of Bengal are gullible enough to buy her lies…If Mamata Banerjee insists on weaving tales to fuel fear and stall SIR, she should at least make them logical. Her current script is nothing but a desperate, hollow hoax—written for electoral dividends and aimed at insulting the intelligence of Bengal and the very soul of democracy itself.”