Kolkata, 1 December (H.S.):
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday alleged that both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are exploiting the Matua community as a vote bank during the Special Intensive Revision process, while keeping them in a prolonged state of uncertainty.
Leading a major march in the city, he said that thousands of Matua residents in North 24 Parganas and Nadia, despite possessing valid documents and having lived there for decades, are being forced to undergo the SIR verification once again.
Chowdhury accused both parties of conspiring to remove a large number of Matua names from the voters’ list. He pointed out that members of the Matua Mahasangha had staged an indefinite hunger strike in the first week of November, yet neither the BJP nor the TMC came forward to support them.
He added that even though Congress does not receive votes from the community, it will not allow a single Matua voter to be disenfranchised.
The former Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said he has demanded a separate discussion on the Matua voting rights crisis during the Winter Session of Parliament on December 5. According to him, both the TMC and BJP have failed to take the issue seriously. He said that while the TMC has sought discussions on SIR, the threat posed to the Matua community requires a more focused and detailed debate.
He also targeted BJP MP Shantanu Thakur, alleging that he has remained silent despite “lakhs of Matua citizens facing the threat of deletion from the electoral rolls.” Chowdhury accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of not taking concrete steps to resolve the issue.
Escalating his attack on the TMC, Chowdhury claimed that the administration has issued notices to several organisations linked to state Waqf properties, seeking detailed information about their assets. He said that while the TMC chief publicly claims she will not allow the Waqf Amendment Act to be implemented, her government is simultaneously collecting data for digitisation of these properties.
He added that the march, from Sealdah station to the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, was entirely non-political and aimed solely at safeguarding the citizenship rights of the Matua community.
Responding to Chowdhury’s allegations, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the TMC has only used the Matuas for political gain, whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched several development schemes for them. He asserted that Matua residents need not fear the SIR exercise and that the BJP will ensure no name from the community is removed from the voter list. According to him, even if someone’s name is omitted, they will receive citizenship under the CAA, and only “Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators” will be identified.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
