A rally against the amended citizenship regime was held on Monday evening in Patuli, a neighbourhood far away from the city centre and home to a large number of migrants from across the border.

The organisers — all residents of Patuli — will launch a door-to-door campaign on Saturday to explain to the people “the BJP government’s ploy to fool people” with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Standing in the crowd that gathered on the ground off Patuli fire station was 77-year-old Ajit Kumar Basu, who had arrived in Calcutta from Dhaka in 1964, after communal riots there claimed a friend. Basu held a Pakistani passport when he arrived in India. He later applied for and got Indian citizenship but lost the certificate.

“Am I to stand in a queue again at this age for a duplicate citizenship certificate? I am not going to do that,” said Basu, who has lived in Patuli for many years but moved out recently. “I got my Indian passport based on the citizenship certificate. I don’t care if the government tells me that my passport is not proof of my citizenship.”

The organisers, who have come together under the banner of the Humans of Patuli, explained to the audience why following the Centre’s diktat on citizenship could land them in trouble.

The new citizenship law requires migrants to declare themselves as people from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan, who have come to escape religious persecution.

“These people are Indian citizens because they have voted. One cannot vote in an Indian election if he or she is not a citizen. Today, if they declare themselves as people from some other country, they will only downgrade their status,” said Kasturi Basu, one of the organisers.

“Once you declare you were born in another country, you are inviting trouble. You will forever be at the mercy of the government.”

The organisers stressed the need to create “resistance groups” in every neighbourhood to carry on the campaign against the CAA, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.

They urged residents to approach them if they have any query about the CAA-NRC-NPR matrix.

“We will hold regular adda session by water bodies and at roadside tea stalls. We will not lecture people but explain to them why we think CAA-NPR-NRC should be opposed,” Basu said.

Sudeshna Dutta Gupta, a university student and an organiser, said the anti-CAA/NRC campaign should be conducted at all places where residents of a neighbourhood meet.