'Post partition, Bangladesh was meant for Muslims, West Bengal for Hindus'

Kolkata: Muslims living in West Bengal since childhood don’t need to worry about the NRC, BJP MP Roopa Ganguly today said, while urging a section of political parties not to politicise every issue “for the sake of national interest”.

Ganguly’s statement comes against the backdrop of a war of words between the TMC and the BJP over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

“Pakistan was formed after the Partition on the basis that it becomes a Muslim country. Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) was mainly for Muslims. West Bengal was made part of India as it was for Hindus, who had come from (the then) East Pakistan because they were driven out from there,” Ganguly said on the sidelines of a programme here.

“Those who are living in India since their childhood, including Muslims, do not need to worry about the NRC,” she said.

“The Muslims who are living in Bengal since their childhood (for many decades) need not to worry about the NRC. There are certain things which should not be politicised for the sake of national interest,” Ganguly said.

The TMC has accused the BJP of being “anti-Bengali” and said it tried to divide the people on religious lines.

The BJP in its turn had accused the TMC government of turning the state into a safe haven for Bangladeshi infiltrators for the sake of vote bank politics.