As Banerjee reached the residence and temple of Matua spiritual leader, late Binapani Devi a.k.a. Boro Ma, several people from the community started showing him black flags and shouting slogans that he will not be allowed to enter the temple.
To ameliorate the tension prevailing amid the Matua community, members of which are distancing themselves from the BJP, Mr Ghosh assured that the BJP led Central government has already completed half the work required in the implementation of CAA- a long time demand of the Matuas.
Notably, BJP MP John Barla had first raised the issue of a separate state, which he said was the people’s demand following post-poll violence and other issues, including underdevelopment.
“Who is BJP to grant citizenship to the Matua community? They should first start carrying the papers of their forefathers to prove their own citizenship,” Banerjee said.
The roll-out of CAA would mean permanent citizenship for Matuas, a Namashudra (Bengali Dalit) community who are believed to have migrated from Bangladesh
Majority of Matua populace are believed to have migrated from Bangladesh. As a result, the controversial CAA was welcomed with much joy by them.
For Ranaghat parliamentary constituency where 40 per cent of the total population is made up of the Matua community, the BJP candidate Jagannath Sarkar won the seat with a whooping margin of 2,33,428 votes.
