Caught in catch-22: Matua body asks members not to apply under CAA till formation of new government

Kolkata: The Matua community's initial jubilation over the implementation of CAA has been dampened as its key organisation advised its members not to apply for citizenship under the new law for now.

The All India Matua Mahasangha has asked its members to apply for Indian citizenship only after the formation of a new government at the Centre.

Matuas, originally from East Pakistan, are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh following religious persecution.

Rules of the CAA were notified last week, and the government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

All India Matua Mahasangha general secretary Mahitosh Baidya said a communication has been sent to all the members of the community "not to file applications for citizenship till the formation of the next government".

The Centre has launched a portal for applying for citizenship under the CAA.

"After the rules were framed, several members of the Matua community tried to fill up online applications. But they faced problems since while filling up column 5, they have been asked to fill it with address proof or documents related to their residence in Bangladesh," Baidya told PTI.

Baidya highlighted that the Matuas face a catch-22 situation, as the majority either arrived without documents from Bangladesh or discarded them after obtaining some in India.

"They destroyed the old documents after managing voter cards and Aadhaar cards here since it is dangerous for a person to carry documents from two countries. If caught, they would be booked under the Foreigners Act," Baidya, who belonged to the Shantanu Thakur faction of the Matua Mahasangha, said.

The All India Matua Mahasangha, the largest Matua organisation in the country, is currently split into two factions – one led by BJP MP and Union minister Shantanu Thakur and the other by TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur.

BJP MLA from Matua-dominated Haringhata seat Asim Sarkar also said that the community members have been advised to wait till the formation of the “third term of the BJP government” and simplification of the CAA rules.

"We have informed our top leadership both in the government and the party about the problems the Matuas are facing as the portal is asking for documents proving that they are from Bangladesh. We have asked the community members not to panic and wait for the government formation," he told PTI.

Responding to assertions that Matuas possess voter cards, Aadhaar cards, and ration cards, Baidya explained that these documents do not suffice as proof of citizenship.

"Most of them don't have valid documentation. These documents won't mean anything if there is scrutiny about their citizenship as they don't have proper citizenship certificates," he stated.

Several Matua leaders, who did not wish to be named, claimed that voter and Aadhaar cards are very easily available illegally.

Reacting to the new communication to the Matua community, TMC MP and prominent member of the community, Mamata Bala Thakur, said "The hoax of the CAA is now out in the open. The BJP has tried to fool them before the elections."

Meanwhile, a recent remark by Union minister Shantanu Thakur that he too would apply for citizenship under CAA has caused a lot of confusion among the people.

Thakur, while trying to allay the fears of a section of the Matua community had said, "Although I am an Indian citizen since my grandfather had a citizenship card. I will apply for citizenship only to check if I am denied any benefit or not.”

The TMC, which has been opposed to CAA, dared the union minister to apply for citizenship.

"As far as I know, he is a born Indian. Now he has said that he would also apply for citizenship. So did he become a union minister without being a citizen of this country? I challenge him to apply for citizenship or else he should apologise for trying to fool the people," Mamata Bala Thakur said.

The community, with an estimated population of three million in the state, can tilt the scales in favour of a political party in more than 30 assembly seats in Nadia, and North and South 24 Parganas districts bordering Bangladesh.

Since the '90s, political parties have courted the support of the Matuas, whose substantial population and tendency to vote cohesively render them a valuable voting bloc akin to minority groups, particularly in alignment with the BJP's stance on the CAA.

The promise of implementing the controversial CAA was a major electoral platform for the BJP in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in West Bengal. The saffron party's leaders believe it played a significant role in the BJP's ascendancy in the state.