Mamata Slams Centre After Man’s Suicide Over NRC Fears

Kolkata: A day after the Election Commission's announcement of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee sought the BJP-rule at the Centre to “stop this heartless game” as a middle-aged man ended his life near the city in fear of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Trinamul Congress supremo’s MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee also called the SIR “a backdoor to the NRC” and demanded an FIR against union home minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the death. The deceased, Pradeep Kar, was from Khardaha in North 24 Parganas.

Barrackpore police commissioner Murlidhar Sharma, who visited the spot, said, “Family members of the deceased said that he became restless after the SIR announcement. They thought he was feeling unwell. On Monday night, the man went to sleep in his room after dinner. On Tuesday morning, his sister-in-law knocked on the door but got no response.”

The family members and neighbours then broke open the door to find Kar hanging dead. Later, Ms Banerjee posted on X-handle, “57-year-old Pradeep Kar from 4 Mahajyoti Nagar, Panihati, Khardaha (Ward No. 9) has taken his own life, leaving behind a note that says, “NRC is responsible for my death.” What greater indictment can there be of the BJP’s politics of fear and division?”

She alleged, “It shakes me to the very core to imagine how, for years, BJP has tormented innocent citizens with the threat of NRC, spreading lies, stoking panic and weaponising insecurity for votes. They have turned constitutional democracy into a draconian law-regime, where people are made to doubt their own right to exist.”

The CM also claimed, “This tragic death is the direct consequence of BJP’s venomous propaganda. Those who sit in Delhi and preach nationalism have pushed ordinary Indians to such despair that they are dying in their own land, fearing they will be declared ‘FOREIGNERS’.”

She added, “I demand that the Central Government stop this heartless game once and for all. Bengal will never allow NRC, and never allow anyone to strip our people of their dignity or belonging. Our soil belongs to Maa, Mati, Manush, not to those who thrive on hate. Let the Delhi Zamindars hear this loud and clear: Bengal will resist, Bengal will protect and Bengal will prevail.”

Hitting back at her, BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya argued, “The tragic death of Pradeep Kar must be investigated thoroughly — the cause of suicide can and must be determined only by the law and investigating agencies, not through political rhetoric. Let’s also get the facts right — there is NO NRC anywhere in the country. Mamata Banerjee is lying and deliberately spreading panic to stoke fear among people for political gain.”

He alleged, “It was the TMC, not the BJP, that weaponised fear — exploiting the anxieties of poor Hindu refugees who fled religious persecution and sought shelter in India. The same fear was used to loot, assault, and suppress voices, as seen in Sandeshkhali and during the riots in Malda and Murshidabad,” before adding, “Mamata Banerjee knows that a proper Special Investigation Report (SIR) will expose the rot in her administration and mark the beginning of her political downfall. The SIR will also ensure that illegal infiltrators, who double up as TMC’s votebank, are IDENTIFIED and DELETED from the voter list. That’s why she’s resorting to lies and theatrics once again. Truth and accountability will prevail — not fearmongering.”