Bengal would have become part of a “greater Bangladesh” had the BJP not come to power, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said, assuring applicants for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act that they would receive their citizenship by December 31 this year.
Addressing a large gathering of the Matua community at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas, Adhikari reminded how the previous Government led by the then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had consistently slowed the implementation of CAA and impeded a large number of SC Matua communities who had migrated to India fleeing religious persecution in Bangladesh from acquiring Indian citizenship.
“Had the TMC Govt returned to power one more time, Bengal would have become a part of greater Bangladesh,” Adhikari said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept his word by passing the CAA that would enable the Matuas and other migrants from Bangladesh who had come to this part of the border after religious persecution.
Adhikari recently slammed the former Chief Minister for coining the term Joy Bangla and creating a separate State song that defied the nationalist sentiments of the people. “The previous government in Bengal had no understanding of nationalism, engaged in appeasement politics, and planned to turn the state into greater Bangladesh.”
“No Govt other than the one led by Modi ji thought about the Matuas… the previous Government that ruled Bengal repeatedly stalled the process of implementation of CAA and spread a disinformation campaign … but now that the regime has changed, we will provide citizenship to 2.5 lakh applicants by December 31,” he said, reminding how during the previous regime only 25,00 refugees could be given citizenship, leading to the names of many others being struck out from the electoral rolls.
Matua, an SC community and part of the early 20th-century reformation movement of undivided Bengal --- led by Guruchand Harichand Thakur --- are considered a formidable force in terms of numerical strength. According to a rough estimate, the Matuas number anywhere between 80 lakh and one crore and impact voting patterns in about 60 to 80 Assembly seats in the State, mostly in North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia and districts of North Bengal.
Declaring that Thakurnagar, the headquarters of the Matua community --- home to a temple --- would soon be made a municipality, Adhikari said his Government would work ceaselessly to develop the Matuas and other backward communities in the State.