Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his frequent comparison of India with Pakistan on various issues. Taking a dig at Mr Modi, she asked if he had become the “ambassador of Pakistan” and had he not felt “ashamed” of his “glorification” of the neighbouring country while being India’s PM.
The Trinamul Congress supremo also expressed her doubts on whether Mr Modi had forgotten the country before asking him to focus on the discussion of “Hindustan” instead of the neighbouring country. Her attack on the PM at a rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens in Siliguri, North Bengal, comes a week ahead of his visit to the city when she is likel to meet him.
Announcing that she would take her firece movement to Darjeeling too, Ms Banerjee said: “The number one leader of our country asks people to go to Pakistan whenever he is told about something. I feel sad about it. Does it have any sense? I respect our PM. But I have a question for him. When our country is so big and so is our democracy, why do you then compare our country with Pakistan? Don’t you feel ashamed of it?”
She asked Mr Modi: “Have you become the ambassador of Pakistan? Have been appointed as the ambassador of Pakistan that you would glorify them every day? You need to talk of Hindustan. Do not talk (about) Pakistan. We do not want to hear talk about Pakistan. We do not want Pakistan. We want Hindustan. Do not compare Hindustan with Pakistan.”
Countering the BJP’s jibe against her of supporting Pakistan against national interests, Ms Banerjee warned the PM: “You refer to Pakistan on every issue as if you have become the ambassador of Pakistan and so you glorify them day and night. We do not support Pakistan. We support Hindustan and her soil. What is happening in this country?”
She continued: “If someone asks for a job due to unemployment or food to meet his hunger or say even industry, he is told to go to Pakistan. If someone demands his citizenship rights, he is asked to go to Pakistan. Why? Pakistan is there in each and every word! Why? Have you forgotten Hindustan? Being the PM of India, he talks only on Pakistan!”
