Adhir Chowdhury writes to HM Shah, seeks ordinance to protect citizenship rights of Matuas

Kolkata, Nov 15 (IANS) Former Lok Sabha MP and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday forwarded a letter to Union Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, urging for an ordinance for protecting the citizenship rights of people from the Matua community. 

Matuas are a backward class community of people from the Hindu community coming to West Bengal as refugees from the neighbouring Bangladesh and settling in different districts in the state, with concentration mainly in North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts.

In his letter, former West Bengal Congress president Chowdhiry requested Shah’s intervention to exempt the Matuas from the strict documentary requirements under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in West Bengal, and to formally recognise their rightful citizenship.

A section of the Matuas, under the banner of All India Matua Mahasangha, is currently undergoing a hunger strike at Thakunagar in Bangaon subdivision in North 24 Parganas district, seeking exemption from documentary requirements for the revision exercise.

On Thursday, Chowdhury visited the hunger-strike site at Thakurnagar. In his letter to Shah, the Congress leader claimed that while interacting with the fasting members from the community, he witnessed their pain, fear, and deep anxiety about their future as citizens of the country.

Chowdhury assured them that he would stand by them with his full capacity and commitment in their struggle for justice.

In his letter to Shah, the Congress leader also pointed out that after migrating from then East Pakistan and now Bangladesh, after facing severe persecution, hardship, and displacement, the people from the Matua community had been a part of India’s social and democratic fabric ever since.

According to him, since the Union Government had already decided to extend the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) cutoff date for “victims of religious persecution” from December 31, 2014, to December 31, 2024, similar humanitarian consideration should be extended to the long-settled people from the Matua community.

Thereafter, Chowdhury called for an ordinance before the forthcoming Winter Session of the Parliament to secure their citizenship and protect the voting rights of the Matuas in the Assembly and Parliamentary elections.

He further expressed concern that people from the Matua community, who have participated in elections for decades and elected representatives to both the West Bengal Assembly and the Parliament, now might face the unjust threat of losing their voting rights because they are unable to produce documentation which were nearly 25 years old.

According to Chowdhury, seeking such documents from the Matuas would be an unrealistic expectation for a historically marginalised and displaced population.

--IANS

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