Surnames do not matter in human relations, says Mamata

Holding that surnames do no matter in human relations, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she does not know the maiden surname of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee's wife.

Banerjee said she does not know the surname of her driver and does not ask surnames of those who work with her in the administration.

"I know that Abhishek's wife is a Punjabi girl, but I do not know her maiden surname. Surnames do not matter in human relationship," the chief minister said at a demonstration against the CAA, nation-wide NRC and the NPR.

Abhishek, whom the chief minister is said to be very fond of, is the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour.

As different kinds of fishes live in an aquarium or marine creatures do in a sea, Banerjee said people in a society live together in harmony irrespective of caste, creed and religion of its members.

"It pains me when I see that we are moving away from the age-old tradition of living together harmoniously," the TMC supremo said at the demonstration.

The sit-in that started on January 10, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the city on a two-day visit, was organised by the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), students' wing of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The demonstration began on January 10, the day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to the city on a two-day visit.

The chief minister has taken a lead role in the country in organising protests against the CAA, country-wide NRC and the National Population Register (NPR), holding that these are devices brought in by the BJP government at the Centre to divide people of the country.

Banerjee said she was brought up by her parents in an atmosphere of togetherness, which is the tradition of the country as also of West Bengal.

The chief minister had on Wednesday said West Bengal will not take part in a meeting convened by the Centre on the NPR in New Delhi on January 17, while daring Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to "dismiss" the state government for not toeing the line of the Union government.