Panic Over NRC Grips Kolkata, Several Parts Of West Bengal

The omission of a large number of Hindu Bengalis from the final NRC list in BJP-ruled Assam has apparently created panic among the people and has led to six deaths in the state so far.

Representational mage: PTI

Kolkata: Hundreds of people lined up at government and municipal offices here and across West Bengal Tuesday to collect their birth certificates and necessary documents to be in readiness should NRC be implemented in the state despite assurances by the TMC government that it would not be allowed. The omission of a large number of Hindu Bengalis from the final NRC list in BJP-ruled Assam has apparently created panic among the people and has led to six deaths in the state so far. Large queues wereseen outside Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) headquartersand other division offices in the city and BDO offices in other parts of Bengal as people waited for their turn to search for land and other necessary documents. "I have come to the KMC office to collect my birth certificate as I had lost it long back. I have heard that we need to have our birth certificates to prove that we are citizens of this country in case NRC is implemented in Bengal," said 75-year-old Ajit Ray, who was seen standing outside KMC headquarters. 55-year-old Bimal Mondal was seen standing outside the land records department of KMC, in search of documents of land procurement in Kolkata by his parents five decades ago.