Shantanu Thakur is the grandson of Pramatha Ranjan Thakur, a outstanding member of the Matua neighborhood who got here to India after partition. He’s BJP MP from Bongaon. (X/@Shantanu_bjp)
Shantanu Thakur is a member of the Matua neighborhood earlier generations of which migrated to West on account of non secular persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The Matua neighborhood is believed to profit probably the most from the implementation of the CAA and is taken into account to be a precious voting bloc
To dispel alleged misinformation on the Citizenship Modification Act, 2019, which got here into drive earlier this month, Union Minister Shantanu Thakur has declared he’ll search citizenship himself in a symbolic gesture.
Shantanu Thakur is the grandson of Pramatha Ranjan Thakur, a outstanding member of the Matua neighborhood who got here to India after partition. He’s BJP MP from Bongaon, an space with the vast majority of folks belonging to the Matua neighborhood in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led authorities on the Centre in 2019, goals at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, together with Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India earlier than December 31, 2014.
Thakur, Union Minister of State for Ports, Delivery and Waterways, mentioned he plans to use for citizenship beneath CAA himself to counter “widespread misinformation” unfold by the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“The TMC is making an attempt to create a deceptive marketing campaign that folks making use of for CAA (citizenship) will lose every little thing. This isn’t proper. The Indian authorities has mentioned that if somebody has Bangladeshi papers, even that may do. The federal government solely desires to test that the individual making use of isn’t affiliated to any terror outfits. I personally will apply for citizenship although I don’t require it. I’ll nonetheless do it to show to folks that nothing will occur.”
The BJP has additionally accused West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee of deterring citizenship candidates with claims that they are going to be dispossessed of their properties.
Matuas, who represent a big chunk of the state’s Scheduled Caste inhabitants, had been migrating to West Bengal because the Fifties, primarily on account of non secular persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan which later turned Bangladesh.
Because the Nineteen Nineties, political events in West Bengal have actively sought to safe the assist of the Matuas, who, on account of their important inhabitants and tendency to vote collectively, are thought of a precious voting bloc.
The Matua neighborhood is believed to profit probably the most from the implementation of the CAA.
In Thakurnagar, a number of members of the neighborhood have been coming to register themselves with the Matua Mahasangha. Lots of them don’t have any paperwork and have been enquiring about making use of for citizenship with out papers.
Get together sources say the various among the many 1-crore sturdy Matua neighborhood could observe Thakur’s instance and apply for citizenship beneath CAA.
