Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed shock and strong condemnation after a resident of Cooch Behar was served a National Register of Citizens (NRC) notice by the Assam government, calling it “a systemic assault on democracy” and accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of overstepping constitutional boundaries.
Banerjee, in a post on X, wrote, “I am shocked and deeply disturbed to learn that the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam has issued an NRC notice to Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a Rajbanshi and resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar for over 50 years. Despite furnishing valid identity documents, he is being harassed on suspicion of being a ‘foreigner/illegal migrant’.”
She alleged that the Assam government, under the BJP, was using the NRC process to extend its reach into West Bengal—where it has no administrative authority—with the aim of intimidating and disenfranchising marginalised communities. “It is proof that the ruling BJP dispensation in Assam is attempting to implement NRC in Bengal, where it holds no power or jurisdiction. A premeditated attempt is being made to intimidate, disenfranchise, and target marginalised communities. This unconstitutional overreach is anti-people and exposes the BJP’s dangerous agenda of bulldozing democratic safeguards and erasing the identity of Bengal’s people,” Banerjee stated.
Calling for “urgent unity” among all Opposition parties, Banerjee urged collective resistance against what she termed the BJP’s “divisive and oppressive machinery.”
The person at the centre of the controversy, Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, claimed he has never left the Cooch Behar district and that his family has lived in the area for five generations. The notice from the Assam Foreigners Tribunal allegedly requires him to prove his Indian citizenship by July 15, citing suspicion that his family entered Assam in the 1970s. Brajabasi said he fears being sent to a detention camp if he fails to prove his citizenship.
In response, the BJP denied the charges. BJP MLA and party leader Sushil Barman dismissed the issue as another “baseless campaign of TMC,” adding, “There is no truth in it. If this happened, the West Bengal government has to take responsibility for this.”
However, North Bengal Development Minister and Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha, from the Trinamool Congress, said the incident reflected the BJP’s hostility toward Bengalis. “The BJP is basically anti-Bengali. They are taking revenge on Bengalis because Bengal never voted for the BJP,” he said.
The official X handle of the Trinamool Congress also condemned the incident, posting, “A resident of Dinhata, Cooch Behar is being hunted like a criminal by Assam’s Foreigners Tribunal. Despite submitting every valid identity proof, he’s being hounded and asked to cough up electoral rolls from every election between 1966 and 2008…”
The incident has sparked a political storm in Bengal, intensifying tensions between the ruling TMC and the BJP ahead of the next electoral battles.