Addressing a public meeting at Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district on Sunday, the Union Minister of State for Shipping, Ports and Waterways said, “Just now Ram Temple has been inaugurated. Today, I can guarantee that in the next seven days, not just in West Bengal, but the CAA will be implemented across India. The law will be implemented in every state”.
The BJP MP from Bongaon, a constituency dominated by the Matua community, also alleged that despite repeated assurance from the state government, a large number of Matua have been denied voter IDs and Aadhaar cards.
“The chief minister of West Bengal repeatedly said that those who migrated to India after 1971 (Bangladesh liberation war) and have voter IDs and Aadhaar cards are citizens of this country. But there are thousands of people here who have been denied voter ID cards. Is it because they belong to the Matua community and support the BJP? The state government is doing this to suit its political agenda. Those who have come here after 1971 need citizenship to secure their future generations. This is the reason why the Centre has brought CAA. That’s why CAA must be implemented,” he said.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar was also present at the public meeting when Thakur made the claims.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in December last year the BJP was committed to the CAA. While addressing a party gathering in West Bengal, Amit Shah said, “Didi (West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) often misleads our refugee brothers regarding the CAA. Let me make it clear that the CAA is the law of the land and no one can stop it. Everybody is going to get citizenship. This is our party’s commitment”.
Matuas belong to the Scheduled Caste Namasudra community that migrated to India in large numbers, first during the Partition, and then after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Most of the three crore Matuas in West Bengal live in the state’s North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts.
Because of the circumstances under which they migrated to India, many of them never formally received Indian citizenship, making this a long-standing demand of the community. In 2021, the BJP had promised to implement their demand for Indian citizenship if it won the Assembly elections.
The CAA has been in limbo as the Centre is yet to frame its rules amid the Opposition’s strong stand against the law. Soon after Parliament had passed the law in 2019, widespread protests broke out across the country.
The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.