'It is like winning a battle fought for years': Matuas express CAA joy

Around 1,000 Matua members gathered at Thakurbari and danced to the beats of the donka, a traditional drum, and the rhythm of cymbals and bells

Matua community members celebrate at Thakurnagar on Monday.: Picture by Sudip Ghosh

Subhasish Chaudhuri, TT, Calcutta, 12.03.24 : The Centre’s notification to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, on Monday evening set the decibel soaring as the Matua community broke into celebrations at Thakurbari, their holy abode in North 24-Parganas’ Thakurnagar.

Around 1,000 Matua members gathered at Thakurbari and danced to the beats of the donka, a traditional drum, and the rhythm of cymbals and bells.

“It is like winning a battle fought for years. The sun has emerged to clear

the dark clouds.... I was waiting for this day. Hope that from tomorrow I will be able to claim myself as a citizen of India and will no more be harassed by police,” said Bijit Kanti Mondal, a Matua devotee in Thakurnagar, as he walked in a procession chanting “Hari bol” and raising slogans praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for keeping the “CAA promise”.

Bengal BJP, which had received support from the “Matua votebank” in the 2019 polls, on Monday tried to make the most out of the announcement with junior Union minister and head of All India Matua Mahasangha, Shantanu Thakur, rushing to the state BJP office in Calcutta with packets of sweets to celebrate the “historic event”.

Speaking to reporters, Thakur said: “History has been created today. A 100 years from now the government may change but no one will ever question the citizenship of refugees."

“Today (Monday’s)’s notification is a reply to those like Mamata Banerjee who misled people by creating panic that the CAA would rob their right to stay in India,” he added.

The Matua followers, who mostly belong to the downtrodden farming community, had entered India “illegally” after 1971. They got their names enrolled on the voter list and settled mostly across Nadia, North 24-Parganas, East Burdwan and parts of north Bengal. According to the 2003 Citizenship Act, they were refugees.

The community, which initially backed the CPM and later Trinamul for security, eventually launched a movement for formal citizenship status.

The BJP promised them the much-coveted status and passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. As the BJP-led Centre took nearly five years to frame the rules, some Matua community members had become restive.

On Monday, too, many were worried about legal provisions on the road to becoming citizens. “We are happy, but probably a new battle begins today. Like many, I am in the dark about legal provisions....,” Bikash Biswas, a Matua member, said.

BJP leaders and All India Matua Mahasangha members claimed there would be no complication and camps would be set up to help people file online applications.

Trinamul MP Mamatabala Thakur, who leads a rival Mahasangh faction, termed the CAA notification "a ploy before the Lok Sabha polls". “The BJP's dubious motive will become clear when people come to know about the documents required to prove their claim to citizenship," she said.