Kolkata, 05 January (H.S.): Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of deliberately misleading the Matua community and Hindu refugees regarding the SIR. Speaking at a press conference at the BJP office in Salt Lake, he said that the Matua community has long been used as a vote bank for political gain.

Suvendu Adhikari said that after the partition of the country in 1947, a large number of Hindu refugees came to West Bengal from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and the Matua community constituted a significant portion of them. He said that this community has been struggling for decades for the right to citizenship, but the Congress and Left Front governments only gave assurances and did nothing on the ground.

He said that the Matua community organized itself under the leadership of Thakur Harichand and Thakur Guruchand and agitated for their rights. Suvendu Adhikari claimed that the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to grant citizenship to refugees by implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act has now been fulfilled.

The Leader of the Opposition alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been spreading misinformation about the CAA from the beginning, creating an atmosphere of fear by linking it to the NRC and detention camps. He said that this led to violence in various parts of the state in 2019 and afterwards, resulting in damage to government property and hardship for ordinary people. He clarified that after the implementation of the CAA, it has become clear that this law has no connection with the NRC or detention camps. He said that applicants in several states of the country have already received citizenship certificates, and thousands of applications have been submitted in West Bengal as well, with many people already starting to receive citizenship.

Suvendu Adhikari said that as elections approach, attempts are being made to mislead the Matua community and Hindu refugees by instilling fear of the NRC. He alleged that attempts were being made to weaken the community by introducing politics into the internal affairs of the Thakurbari (religious institution). Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role, he said that for the first time since independence, a Prime Minister had visited Orakandi, the birthplace of the Matua community, to pay his respects and had taken concrete steps to ensure the safety of refugees.

He alleged that several Hindu refugees who had sought refuge in West Bengal following recent incidents of persecution against Hindus in Bangladesh were being harassed by the state police. In this context, he stated that the central government has issued clear instructions that no state police force can harass or forcibly deport Bangladeshi Hindu refugees who have come to India to save their religion and lives until December 31, 2024.

Suvendu Adhikari said that by implementing the CAA and providing protection to refugees, the Modi government has fulfilled its humanitarian duty. Finally, he stated that the BJP strongly condemns the politics of misleading the Matua community and Hindu refugees, and that the BJP will continue to stand firmly in defense of the rights of the Sanatan Hindu community and refugees in the future as well.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey