Bengaluru: Lawyers and businessmen in Kolkata have approached the Calcutta high court over WB CM Mamata Banerjee’s statements relating to non-implementation of CAB, now a law, in the state.

As many as three petitions were filed in this regard.

In an open defiance against the centre, Mamata Banerjee had declared that she would implement neither the CAA nor the NRC in her state.

Another petition was also filed at the court on the issue of how Mamata spent public funds to advertise that she would not implement the two.

Interestingly, another petition seeking preventive detention of Firhad Hakim, the Kolkata mayor was also filed.

The CAB, now a law, grants citizenship to those religiously persecuted non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have been here in India before December 31, 2014.

The law comes as a one-time offering for the religiously persecuted minorities who have been in India before December 31, 2014. Note that the law doesn’t relax itself to accommodate a Hindu who came a day later, that is on January 1, 2015.

How many Hindus or non-Muslims will be benefitted by this move? Well, not more than 30 to 32000.

In spite of these features of the law to accommodate badly bruised Hindus, there are others who say that the Constitution doesn’t discriminate on the basis of religion. But they conveniently forget that Muslims get preferential treatment and have a ministry like minority affairs to cater to their needs. Strictly speaking, they too are positively being discriminated, which ought not be.

Back to the issue of Mamata Banerjee deciding not to implement NRC and CAB, she has also been accused of shielding anti-social elements belonging to the minorities.

Amit Shah, on the floor of the house, said that Hindus had to approach the courts to celebrate festivals like Durga puja and therefore, Mamata had done enough to wipe out the secular fabric of the state.

