Explained: Why BJP Leader Santanu Thakur Said He Will Apply For Citizenship Under CAA

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had vowed against allowing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to come into force in Bengal. 

Once the rules were framed and the act was notified last week, Banerjee realised that she is powerless to prevent the CAA from being implemented in her state. 

Following this, since the middle of last week, there have been attempts made to spread confusion about the act and also to allegedly threaten people — primarily the Matuas — from applying for Indian citizenship under the act. 

Banerjee, and her party, launched a silent campaign telling Matuas — Dalits who have been migrating from East Pakistan (and Bangladesh) in large numbers since 1947 — that they would suffer if they applied for Indian citizenship under the new law. 

Fact is, most Matuas have already obtained Indian citizenship, though not by fair means. As is well known, Indian citizenship is easily available for the price in Bengal; that is how millions of Bangladeshi Muslims and even Rohingyas have become Indian citizens after entering the country illegally through Bengal. 

Fake documents — school certificates, residence certificates, ration cards, driving licences and Aadhaar cards — can be bought for a small price in Bengal.

It is on the basis of these fake documents that Indian citizenship has been, and is being, obtained in Bengal. Lakhs of Matuas have, thus, got Indian citizenship (as have crores of Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingyas) through this route. 

Banerjee has been telling the Matuas that they need not apply for Indian citizenship afresh. Trinamool functionaries have been telling the Matuas that if they re-apply for Indian citizenship now under the amended rules (CAA), they will have to submit many documents to prove that they came in from Bangladesh. 

Also, applying for Indian citizenship afresh will render their earlier documents — their voter ID cards, Aadhaar cards, etc — invalid and they will not be able to avail of various benefits extended by the Union and state governments. 

Banerjee has also warned that all those who apply for Indian citizenship under the amended rules will become ineligible for various state government welfare schemes like the Lakshmir Bhandar (monthly payouts for women) and other doles. 

“There is no need for Matuas or anyone else to apply for Indian citizenship afresh. Everyone in India is an Indian citizen and no one can deprive them of citizenship. I will protect everyone. But I cannot protect those who apply for citizenship through the CAA and face harassment,” warned Banerjee. 

All of this has naturally created a lot of confusion among the Matuas. There have been sporadic protests by Matuas in some areas of the state. 

A section of the ‘Sara Bharat Matua Mahasangh’ (SBMM), a body of the Matuas, have been expressing their disquiet over the CAA. 

“This (the new rules) is unacceptable. If a person flees Bangladesh due to religious persecution, will those who have tortured him hand him the certificates before forcing him to run for his life? People have fled Bangladesh with almost nothing with them. Worse, even in India they have to shift their homes multiple times. How can one expect papers from them?” asked SBMM’s Malda unit chief Dwijen Adhikary. 

Adhikary said that if they now apply for Indian citizenship, they will be subjected to harassment by the police and if their applications are rejected, they will become stateless citizens and will face deportation or prison terms. 

The BJP has now launched a counter-campaign. Junior Union Minister and Matua Mahasangh leader Santanu Thakur has, in a bid to allay misgivings among his community, said he himself will apply for Indian citizenship afresh. 

“I will apply (for citizenship under CAA). I needn’t have done it because my grandfather, who had migrated from East Pakistan, had obtained his (Indian) citizenship card through legal means. But I will do it (apply for citizenship) only to debunk illogical claims and a mischievous misinformation campaign launched by Mamata Banerjee,” Thakur told Swarajya. 

Thakur, who held a rally in support of CAA at Madanpur in Nadia district (which has a large number of Matuas) on Sunday (17 March), told people that even if a person does not have documents to prove that he was a resident of Bangladesh, he will still get Indian citizenship. 

“As long as you are a Hindu who has fled religious persecution from Bangladesh, you will get Indian citizenship through the CAA. If you have a document to prove that you came from Bangladesh, that’s good. But even if you don’t, it doesn’t matter because the Matua Mahasangh will vouch for you. You will not lose any benefits that you are enjoying now,” he told the large gathering of Matuas at Madanpur. 

State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar held a similar rally at Kushmani in Dakshin Dinajpur on Sunday while BJP Lok Sabha MP from Hooghly held another rally at Chinsurah in her constituency. 

More such rallies and outreach programmes will be held by BJP leaders to counter the Trinamool’s misinformation and threats. 

Why Applying For Indian Citizenship Under CAA Is Necessary

But what is being left unsaid here is that it is crucial for all those belonging to the six religious groups (Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and Chritstians) who fled persecution from the three countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan) to apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA. 

While there are many among these migrants who have already obtained Indian citizenship by legal means, there are many others (especially Matuas) who have obtained Indian citizenship on the basis of fake documents. 

It is important for those who have obtained Indian citizenship on the basis of fake documents to apply afresh and obtain Indian citizenship by the easy legal means available to them now. 

That’s because once a nationwide exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is launched — it is bound to happen sometime in the near future — all citizenship documents will be subjected to close scrutiny.

All the migrants from the three countries who have become Indian citizens through legal means under the CAA (or the laws prevailing earlier) will have nothing to worry about during the NRC updation exercise. 

However, those who have obtained citizenship on the basis of fake documents will land themselves in a soup: they can be prosecuted and their citizenships cancelled. 

Hence, it is important for even those who have obtained Indian citizenship on the basis of fake documents to apply afresh and regularise their citizenship status now.