New Delhi, July 31 (IBNS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday appreciated the social and educational upliftment functions performed by Christian Missionaries and said she often felt why was she not born as a Christian .

"Sometimes, I feel proud to say why I was not born as a Christian," Banerjee said while addressing at a Christian conclave in New Delhi.

"Christian Missionaries perform very good social and educational functions in the society," Banerjee said.

"I thank nuns, bishops and sisters who are working for the society. I am overwhelmed to see their activities. They work so beautifully for the poor and downtrodden," she said.

Banerjee arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Attacking the Centre over the NRC issue in Assam, Banerjee said: " You should not divide and rule. If a person has committed a crime, why should all institutions be raided by a particular political party? Look at what’s happening in Assam. This ruling party is in Assam."

She said: "It is in power there because of its voters, but now it says that the same voters don’t belong to this country."

Attacking the Centre, she said if people are isolated then it may lead to 'civil war'.

“I am not that liberal to love people who lynch. I am with the people. If tribals, Dalits and minorities are isolated, it may lead to civil unrest,” she said.

Ruckus in Parliament:

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day while the Opposition staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha as the NRC issue in Assam rocked Parliament on Tuesday triggering a huge ruckus.

According to reports, the disruptions in both the Houses were led by the TMC amid a continuing blame game with fusillades flying thick over the deletion of more than four million names from the updated list of Indian nationals in Assam.

In course of the verbal war, Amit Shah launched a counter attack against the Congress, saying that the the very basis of the exercise and NRC (National Register of Citizen) is the Assam Accord signed by former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi.

"This was a move by your prime minister only," Shah told the upper house targeting the Opposition and Congress over the issue.

Amid noisy protests, Shah said "you [Congress and opposition] did not have the courage to implement it [Assam Accord]. We have the courage to do it."

The Assam Accord (1985) was signed between the Government of India led by Rajiv Gandhi and the leaders of the Assam Movement in New Delhi on 15 August 1985 after a six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).

"They are shouting over the figure of 40 lakh. I ask you who you want to save? The illegal Bangladeshis?" Amit Shah asked, adding that the NRC was being prepared under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

The Congress and the TMC have accused the government of using the pretext of Bangladeshi migrants to target Assam's Muslim population.

Sparking fears of deportation and a law and order crisis, India on Monday announced exclusion of about four million people from citizenship in the northeastern state of Assam bordering Bangladesh after a draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published.

Those excluded from the list could not prove their citizenship by providing valid documents and they are mostly Muslim immigrants who came to Assam before 1971, when millions fled Bangladesh’s war of independence.



