Matua body to march on Dec 1 to voice SIR concerns
Times of India | 29 November 2025
Kolkata: The All India Matua Mahasangha (AIMM), which recently held a hunger strike demanding unconditional citizenship, will hold a protest march on Dec 1 to express its concerns over the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of voter rolls, it was announced on Friday. The rally will start at 4pm on Monday from Sealdah station and proceed to the office of the Election Commission (EC).
AIMM's key demands include simplification of the SIR process, universal acceptance of Aadhaar during verification and assurance that no Matua voter will be removed from the rolls. Leaders of the Matua body have insisted that names of those who voted in the last Lok Sabha election should be retained.
Matua community senior and Trinamool MP Mamata Bala Thakur said the organisation would hold an agitation in Delhi if their demands aren't met some time in Dec. The organisation also plans to submit a fresh memorandum to EC in Kolkata.
"Sanghādhīpati Mamatabala Thakur has asked all dalpatis, pagals, gosains, and members of the organisation to assemble for the (Dec 1) march," said Sukesh Chakraborty, secretary of the Mamatabala Thakur-led AIMM. "None of the names of those who voted in previous years—especially those who voted in the last Lok Sabha election—should be removed from the voters' list," he added.
Meanwhile, Shantanu Thakur, the BJP MP who leads the BJP-backed faction of AIMM, said, "Once the SIR list is published, a crackdown will begin across the state. Bangladeshi infiltrators and Rohingya people will certainly be caught. Once they are caught, they will be sent straight to detention camps."