EPIC in hand, fear in heart: Matuas queue up as hearing enters 2nd day
Times of India | 29 December 2025
Kolkata: Hearings for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls began in Bengal's Matua heartland, with scores of people from the community — most of whom do not possess even one of the 11 documents listed by the Election Commission for submission during the hearings — turning up at block offices amid widespread fears of detention.
Some carried their EPICs while some others clutched on to their Aadhaar cards or land documents as members of the community stood in long queues as the second day of hearings got underway on Sunday. Some others only had empty hands to show. But one thing was in common — the palpable sense of uncertainty, particularly among those whose names did not figure in the 2002 list. The scene was similar across several parts of North 24 Parganas, the most in Bongaon subdivision, including Bagdah, Gaighata, Thakurnagar and Habra.
Gaighata's Subodh Mondal, who migrated from Satkhira in Bangladesh in 1993, arrived at the hearing carrying his voter card, Aadhaar card and land documents. Yet, uncertainty weighed heavy on him. "I have brought all the identity and land-related govt documents I possess. I applied at a CAA camp and received an SMS, but I have not yet received the citizenship certificate. I am extremely anxious about whether my name or those of my family members will be included in the final list. If our names are excluded, I don't know what kind of citizenship-related problems we may face in the future," Mondal said.
Samir Ranjan Biswas, an elderly member of the Matua community, stood waiting at a long queue at Bagdah. The elderly man from Helencha said his ancestral home was in Bangladesh's Gopalganj and had migrated to India decades ago after facing persecution. "I applied under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) four months ago, but I am yet to get citizenship. I don't know whether my name will figure in the final electoral roll," he said.
According to administrative sources, over 1 lakh voters from the Matua heartland, spread over four assembly constituencies in Bongaon, are likely to receive hearing notices. Most of these people — the majority of them having come to India from Bangladesh — were found lacking in progeny mapping. While many of them had their names in the 2025 voter list, and some even in the 2002 list, the names of their parents or grandparents were not found in the rolls.
At a hearing centre in Thakurnagar — the Matua community nerve-centre — Rohini Das and her husband Ajit Das said they had showed their land deeds and Aadhaar cards but remained unsure about the outcome.
"We still don't know whether our names will be retained," they said.
Interestingly, junior Union minister Shantanu Thakur earlier claimed that most Matua refugees possess at least one or two of the required documents. "Those who do not have documents can apply under the CAA, through which they will get citizenship," he had said.
Countering this, Shantanu's rival and TMC MP Mamata Bala Thakur had questioned why Aadhaar had not been made mandatory during the hearings. "Centre is trying to snatch away the voting rights of the Matuas through the Election Commission. I don't know how we will be able to protect them," she said.