Trinamool Congress Delegation detained at Silchar Airport : NRC Assam Row

Guwahati: An eight-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress has been detained at Assam today. The delegation comprising of 6 MPs and 2 MLAs have been detained at the Silchar Airport of Asaam.

The Trinamool Congress delegation has visited the state to assess the situation in the Bengali dominated Silchar region of Assam after the publication of NRC Final Draft.

The team after arriving at the Silchar Airport was proceeding towards the VIP exit at the Arrivals Section when CISF officials prohibited them to exit from the airport, following which the members of the Trinamool Congress delegation sat on a Dharna at the airport itself.

"Our delegation was detained at Silchar airport. It is our democratic right to meet people, this is a super emergency like situation. What is going on? If 144 is on, where is the notification? They are lawmakers, not lawbreakers. Therefore they agreed to go in groups of two. Six MPs and one MLA have been detained at the airport. This is a bad situation. People are nervous and we are trying to be with the people," said TMC leader and MP Derek O'Brien.

https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1024955717504065536

The Trinamool Team is at Silchar to meet several people of Silchar and hold public meetings in connection with the NRC of Assam.

The detention of the Trinamool Congress members comes at a time when the Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are at loggerheads over the NRC issue.

Trinamool Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has thoroughly criticized the NRC, calling it a voracious attempt to cause an exodus of Bengali-speaking population from the northeastern state. She had stated that the NRC will lead to a "civil war" like situation and that it is an attempt to make Indians refugees in their own land.

Following the Trinamool Congress leader's remarks, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJPmembers have filed an FIR against her at Assam.

The Final Draft of the NRC was published on July 30 in which 40,07,707 people have been left out of the 3.29 crore applicants. The Trinamool Congress which is the ruling party of West Bengal has been critical of the exercise right from its inception and has criticized the Government for its "divide-and-rule" policy.