Terming the ongoing violence and arson in the state over the citizenship law as "minor incidents", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said just because the BJP has requisite numbers in Parliament, it cannot bully the states into enforcing the law.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had said at a Jharkhand rally that the "protesters could be identified by their clothes", she asserted that "miscreants and commoners cannot be differentiated on the basis of attire or food habits".
Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, claimed that the Centre stopped railway services in the state over "one or two minor incidents" of violence.
"Owing to one or two small incidents, the Centre has stopped railways services in Bengal. It is the duty of the Railway Protection Force personnel to protect railway property, yet we provided them support.
"We have arrested more than 600 people (for creating trouble). I would request the railways and the central government to resume services," she said.
Protests over the amended Citizenship Act had been raging across the state over the past five days, with agitators setting fire to trains, buses, railway station complexes in different areas.
Losses incurred in the wake of the agitation run into crores of rupees.
Banerjee on Tuesday led a protest rally over citizenship law -- from Jadavpur 8B bus stand in the city to Jadubabu Bazar in Bhawanipore, around 6.5 km away.
The chief minister stressed that violence over the amended Act would defeat the purpose of the protest.
"Violence and arson will not be tolerated; police will take action against the culprits. These violent protests are undermining the very purpose of the protest," she noted.
Alleging that the BJP was instigating trouble in the country, she said the Citizenship (Amemdment) Bill was passed in a hurry in Parliament.
"The BJP didn't give opposition parties time to think and discuss the bill. It sought the passage of the bill in a hurry. The bill was not passed in a constitutional matter in Parliament," she claimed.
Condemning the police action at Jamia Millia University in Delhi, the CM said the "torture meted out to the students at the varsity was unprecedented".
Scores of protesters, including those from the university, were injured in the national capital during clash with police over the past few days.
Banerjee had on Monday dared the Centre to dismiss her government, and vowed not to implement the amended Citizenship Act and the proposed NRC, saying that the law could only be enforced in West Bengal over her "dead body".
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