Kolkata: A day after the Centre notified The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, implementing the law across the country ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed it an “election gimmick”.
Addressing a government programme in North 24 Parganas district, Mamata Banerjee said the Act had been brought in only to harass people and win two seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
“They are asking for your father’s birth certificate. Do you have your father’s birth certificate? I don’t have one. I don’t even know my parents’ birthdates. Those who are jumping with joy, read the Act and see how dangerous it is. You will be marked a refugee, then your property, your house, your basic rights will be taken away, few will get citizenship but the remaining will be sent to a detention camp,” she claimed.
The CM will lead an anti-CAA protest in Siliguri today.
To understand the legal implications of the notified rules, advocate on record in the Supreme Court, Anas Tanwir, told ThePrint that in case the CAA isn’t granted to the person applying, he or she will be sent to detention camp as India doesn’t have a deportation treaty with either Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh.
“One can become a citizen of this country by birth, if one of the parents is Indian or by naturalisation. Now, if you have come to India on or before 2014 you are eligible (for citizenship), so an applicant would have already completed 10 years, additional two years will make no difference now, making it just an electoral plank.”
According to Tanwir, who has closely studied the rules, if the Matuas have been voting, they are naturally Indians, since non-Indians cannot vote in Indian elections, and don’t need separate citizenship.
“If one is unable to provide any proof of the originating country, that person becomes an illegal immigrant. That anyway is illegal and has no link to CAA. But the CAA and NRC (National Register of Citizens) are not connected. NRC was a court-monitored exercise,” he added.
In West Bengal, the CAA has political ramifications when it comes to Hindu refugee Rajbanshis and Matua communities — the two largest Scheduled Caste (SC) groups in the state.
According to the 2001 census, both communities have a population of over 32 lakh each. While the Rajbanshis are concentrated in North Bengal districts of Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, and Jalpaiguri, the Matuas are dominant in North 24 Parganas district and Nadia. Between the two, they play key electoral roles in at least eight Lok Sabha seats of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Balurghat, Alipurduar, Darjeeling, Bongaon and Ranaghat.
The Rajbanshi community, which occupies parts of North Bengal, finds its roots in Kamata Kingdom. After 1947, this SC community was divided into splinter groups. While one wanted a different state for Koch Rajbanshi, another demanded SC status, which was granted. The fight for statehood has been silent for a while now.
Narendra Modi cabinet’s MoS home and sports and youth affairs, Nishith Pramanik belongs to the Rajbanshi community. He has been given a ticket again to fight 2024 polls from Cooch Behar. The BJP also nominated Koch leader Anant Maharaj to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, indicating their clear focus on this community, which can also be found in Assam, parts of Bihar, and also Nepal and Bhutan.
Also read: Shaheen Bagh roared against CAA 4 yrs ago. Now there’s an uneasy quiet, ‘no intentions to protest’
Reason for TMC to remain optimistic
While on one hand, the BJP, that had promised the implementation of CAA before the elections, sees this as a big boost, especially in Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) also remains optimistic about tackling the BJP over the new law which Mamata has said, she will not allow in her state.
The implementation of the CAA has also given the TMC a breather from the heat it has been getting over Sandeshkhali.
Speaking to ThePrint, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur admitted that BJP could gain marginally from the implementation in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. But the TMC plans to turn that around with protests on ground in Bongaon, the headquarters of the All India Matua Mahasangha.
“BJP trying to enforce the law just days before the election is a clear indication of their political intention. This might not help them a lot, but a section of the Matuas is celebrating. We will begin protesting from tomorrow, we are citizens already, we don’t need CAA. We wanted citizenship without any conditions, then why are they asking us to fill forms and seeking documents? We won’t accept these forms,” said Thakur to ThePrint.
While MoS Shantanu Thakur said that this will help Matuas apply for passports, which they couldn’t get earlier due to insufficient documents, Mamata Bala Thakur said many Matuas, including her, have passports already.
“What Shantanu Thakur is saying is incorrect, I have a passport, I was born in Maharashtra, so I had to get all the documents. It was a tiresome process despite me telling them I was a former MP and had a red passport,” claimed Mamata Bala Thakur.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee has launched a mega SC/ST outreach campaign for the party.
Starting 15 March, SC/ST Trinamool leaders will visit SC/ST dominated areas in branded campaign vehicles and hold hotspot meetings. TMC leaders say the party has prepared booklets which will depict how BJP has let down the SC/ST communities and how the TMC has been safeguarding their rights. These booklets will be shared during the hotspot meetings. The Trinamool will use 150 blue-white SUVs with the Trinamool symbol branded as ‘Tapashili Sanglap’ (essentially tribal outreach), which will travel to SC/ST dominated areas for public connection for electoral support in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls,”
According to political analyst Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, this long-pending announcement has not put the TCM on the backfoot so far. “There is scope for confusion over declaring oneself a foreigner first. This will definitely help the TMC to polarise the anti-CAA, anti-NRC votes in her party’s favour. West Bengal did witness protests, especially in Howrah against CAA. How things shape in Assam is also likely to have a bigger impact electorally for both neighbouring West Bengal and other states,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Renewed protests in Assam over CAA rules notification