Matua community to receive citizenship amid CAA implementation, states Amit Shah

PTI, May 14, 2024, 6:12 PM IST

In a bid to address concerns of the Matuas over citizenship, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured the community that its members would get citizenship under the CAA and accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of spreading falsehood about it. Addressing a rally in Bongaon, a stronghold of the Matua community, in North 24 Parganas district, Shah asserted that Banerjee can ”never stop the implementation of the CAA in the state as it is a law by the central government”. “No power in the world can stop my refugee brothers from becoming citizens of India. This is the promise of Modi Ji. Mamata Banerjee must remember that citizenship falls under the exclusive authority of the central government, not the state governments,” he said. Shah accused Banerjee of “lying” and spreading ”falsehood” about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). “Mamata Banerjee is lying that anyone who applies for citizenship under the CAA will face problems. I have come to assure the people of the Matua community that no one will face any trouble. You will get citizenship and will be able to live with respect in the country,” he said.

The minister also said, “I guarantee you that no one will face any inconvenience and difficulty. You will get both citizenship and respect in the country.” The Matuas, originally from erstwhile East Pakistan, are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh, following religious persecution.

The Matua community’s initial jubilation over the implementation of CAA rules has been dampened as the All India Matua Mahasangha has advised its members to abstain from submitting citizenship applications due to lack of necessary documents proving their previous residential address in Bangladesh. Shah, addressing a considerable Matua population in the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat, attacked Banerjee for opposing the CAA and “taking out rallies in support of infiltrators to appease her vote bank”. “Why is she against refugees obtaining citizenship? She is supporting infiltration in Bengal but opposes Hindu refugees getting citizenship. She is taking out rallies against the CAA and supporting infiltrators,” he said. Shah said that the BJP will win 270 of the 380 Lok Sabha segments where elections were held in the last four phases.

“Modi Ji has attained a majority with 270 seats, after the completion of voting in 380 seats of the first four phases. We will soon reach our target of 400 plus seats,” he said. Banerjee had recently claimed that if the opposition bloc INDIA comes to power, of which the TMC is a part at the national level, it would repeal the CAA by bringing in a new law in Parliament. The Centre, in March, implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, notifying the rules four years after the law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. Hitting out at the TMC on the issue of graft, Shah said only the BJP can end the TMC’s “rule of corruption” in West Bengal. “From ‘cut money’ culture to infiltration, from bomb blasts to Bhatija’s goons harassing people, from ‘Syndicate Raj’ to utter lawlessness, the situation of West Bengal is bad under the TMC rule. It’s only Narendra Modi Ji, who can save the state of West Bengal from this situation,” the BJP leader said. “Those involved in the chit fund scam, teacher recruitment scam, municipal recruitment scam, ration scam, cow and coal smugglers should be prepared to go to jail. No one will be spared,” he said.

Slamming TMC over various issues of corruption and scams, Shah said, “None of the corrupt people would be spared.” Addressing another rally in Howrah district’s Uluberia, Shah alleged that Banerjee ”changes names of centrally funded schemes and runs those as the West Bengal government’s initiatives.

”Rohingyas and Bangladeshis are Mamata Banerjee’s vote bank in Bengal,” Shah added.