Celebrations erupted in numerous areas of West Bengal, notably at Matua community-dominated Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, hours after the Union Ministry of House Affairs notified the principles for the implementation of the Citizenship Modification Act (CAA) which was enacted by Parliament in December 2019.
Sporting vibrant clothes, members of the Matua group, that migrated to India, first through the Partition after which after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation Warfare, performed drums and distributed sweets. In Kolkata, folks and Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha members put up diyas at Ahiritola Ghat on the banks of the Hooghly river and painted the ghat’s steps to mark the event.
Union Minister of State for Delivery, Ports and Waterways and All-India Matua Mahasangha head Shantanu Thakur stated it’s an “independence day for refugee communities residing within the nation”.
Many of the 3 crore Matuas in West Bengal dwell within the state’s North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts. “The lifetime of future generations of individuals belonging to refugee communities have been secured right this moment. It’s a historic day for refugees within the nation. That is like an independence day for them. Immediately their ordeal has come to an finish. They will not be branded as refugees because the nation beneath the management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced in CAA which grants citizenship to those folks. The consequences of this will likely be felt within the Lok Sabha polls,” stated Thakur throughout a press convention on the BJP workplace in Kolkata.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar stated the federal government on the Centre at all times delivered on its guarantees. “The Union House Minister has stated that CAA will likely be carried out earlier than the Lok Sabha polls. Immediately, it has been performed. Members of refugee communities are completely satisfied right this moment. The CAA goals to grant citizenship and doesn’t take away anybody’s. Subsequently, nobody must lose their sleep over the difficulty,” stated Majumdar.
The Trinamool Congress, nevertheless, criticised the Centre for notifying the Act earlier than the Lok Sabha polls. “We’re already residents of this nation. We have now Aadhaar and voter playing cards. We had been elected as public representatives being residents. In addition to, a lot of folks have misplaced their paperwork through the years. How would they show their citizenship?” stated Mamata Bala Thakur, TMC Rajya Sabha MP and member of the All-India Matua Mahasangha.
Because of the circumstances beneath which the Matuas, who belong to the scheduled caste Namasudras, migrated to India, many by no means formally acquired Indian citizenship, making this a long-standing demand of the group. In 2021, the BJP promised to implement their demand for Indian citizenship if it received the Meeting elections.
The CAA has been in limbo because the Centre is but to border its guidelines amid the Opposition’s robust stand in opposition to the regulation. Quickly after Parliament handed the regulation in 2019, widespread protests broke out within the nation. The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan who entered India earlier than December 31, 2014.