All India Matua Mahasangha chief and BJP MP Santanu Thakur on Sunday urged members of his Matua community to visit their holy abode Thakurnagar on January 30 — irrespective of political leanings — to demand “unconditional citizenship” before home minister Amit Shah who is likely to visit the area that day.

Thakur appealed to community members to be vocal for “simplified provisions” of the amended citizenship law initiated by the BJP-led Centre in 2019 so no one is “harassed”.

Speaking at the religious gathering organised by the Santipur unit of the All India Matua Mahasangha, Thakur said: “Please visit Thakurnagar on January 30 to demand unconditional citizenship with easy and clear provisions under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. It is your matter of right, so raise your voice before the home minister forgetting all political prejudices.”

Bongaon MP Thakur’s plea comes at a time chief minister Mamata Banerjee has ruled out the need for the CAA and offered freehold land deeds to refugees to try and woo the Matuas, lower-caste Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh.

The citizenship issue has divided opinion among the Matuas ahead of Bengal polls where the community is an important vote bank. While the BJP has resolved to solve the community’s “identity crisis” through the CAA, the Trinamul has discouraged the Matuas, terming the law a “trap” that will eventually rob them of their residency rights.

“Please believe that only a simplified provision of the citizenship act can solve our problem... A land right or any other document can’t prove your identity as citizen,” Thakur added. He also indirectly addressed another of Mamata’s arguments against CAA for the Matuas — paperwork.

“We will appeal before the home minister for simplified provisions so that no religiously persecuted refugee like us is harassed in the absence of documents,” he said.

He added that for a religiously persecuted person, obtaining documents was not just difficult but impossible.