Mamata Banerjee on Friday asserted yet again that members of the Matua community were very much Indian citizens and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah of misleading the community.
The chief minister also questioned Modi’s recent visit to Orakandi — a holy site for Matuas, now in Bangladesh.
“Every time (prior to this) Narendra Modi was invited to Bangladesh, he called me, knowing that (Bangladesh Prime Minister) Sheikh Hasina loves me. I accompanied him in the interest of bilateral relationship though I don’t like him,” she said.
“But this time he went to Bangladesh silently, without informing me. It was politically motivated. He did not go there as a mark of true love for Bangladesh....It was to woo the Matuas,” she added. “I will visit Bangladesh alone the next time, not to do any politics.”
Reaffirming that Matuas were Indian citizens, a refrain she has adopted ever since the BJP passed the contentious citizenship legislations in 2019, she said nobody would be able to rob the Matuas’ right to Indian citizenship.
“The BJP has been misleading you by offering you citizenship. Everyone who came to India before March 1971 is an Indian citizen. It appears the BJP wants to say the Matuas are not Indian citizens. I’d like to ask Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to be categorical enough and speak on the issue,” she said.
“They are playing games with the Matua people,” added Mamata in North 24-Parganas’s Habra, a Matua-dominated Assembly seat from where Trinamul veteran and minister Jyotipriya Mullick is contesting. “Should we learn about citizenship from the BJP?” asked Mamata, assuring people that the state government had ensured their right to remain in India.
“I am not giving you fake assurances. I am a chief minister. I never say fake things,” Mamata added.
However, she advised people to ensure that their names were included in the electoral rolls. “Amit Shah and Narendra Modi have been making different statements at different places. In north Bengal, Shah said he did not order the NRC. But in Assam on April 8, they issued a notice for detention camps. They have deleted 14 lakh Bengali people...So you must ensure your names are included in electoral rolls.”
