Rush for CAA certificates in Bengal’s bordering towns amid speculation of SIR

KOlkata: Septuagenarian Asim Mondal, a occupant of Baghanchra hamlet in w Bengal’s Nadia dominion, was sitting on a wooden bench along with a few other villagers in one end of the room. Everyone was carrying some documents in plastic bags or files and waiting anxiously for their turn even as a man was sitting in the other end of the room, busy filling up some forms on a computer.The house where Mondal and the other villagers gathered belongs to Jagannath Sarkar, Lok Sabha MP of the Bharatiya Janata Party (MJP) from Ranaghat.“I came to India with my family in 1988 from Bagerhat in Bangladesh. We settled in Nadia district and have been living here since then. I am a farmer. Even though I have an Aadhaar card I don’t have a citizenship certificate. I have heard that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) may be rolled out this year and hence I have come to apply for Indian citizenship,” said Mondal.With speculation rife of a possible rollout of SIR in West Bengal ahead of the assembly elections in 2026, several bordering towns in the state have seen a rush for applications for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).BJP leaders, including Union ministers, MPs and even block and district-level leaders, have set up camps in these towns where refugees from Bangladesh, who settled in India before 2014, could apply for Indian citizenship.“We have set up a camp in my house to help people apply for citizenship under CAA. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had spread all lies about CAA saying that if people apply for citizenship they would be identified and sent back to Bangladesh. But people have understood this falsehood. Now, with SIR likely to be rolled out in the state, these people are now coming out in large numbers to apply for Indian citizenship,” said Sarkar.Passed by Parliament in 2019, CAA offers citizenship to non-Muslims who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution. TMC chairperson and chief minister Mamata Banerjee claims it is unconstitutional to link citizenship to faith in a secular country.A similar camp has also been set up at the office of Sukanta Majumdar, Union minister and former state BJP president, at Dipalinagar in South Dinajpur’s Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency.At Bagda in North 24 Parganas, a CAA camp has been set up by Sourav Gayali, opposition leader at the Bagda panchayat samity. It is one of the first CAA camps set up by BJP leaders.“Around 500 people have already applied for citizenship since the camp was opened last month. We are helping the people to fill up the forms and arrange the documents they need. One needs three affidavits from the court, an eligibility certificate from a religious institution, any Indian document issued before 2014 and a document from Bangladesh,” said Gopal Gayali, a BJP leader in Bagda who was helping the people to fill up the forms at the camp.A BJP leader, aware of the developments, said that such camps have been set up in multiple districts including North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur. A few thousand people have applied for citizenship over the past few weeks from these camps. More than 20 such camps are now operational in the bordering districts, he addedAt Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas, headquarter of the All India Matua Mahasangha, people from nearby villages and the adjoining district of Nadia are pouring in large numbers. A camp has been set up with bamboo poles and tarpauline sheets, where 15 - 20 volunteers are seated to help the villagers to get their Hindu certificate and Matua card.“The Hindu certificate is the first step before one applies for citizenship. We have increased our capacity as the rush to get the Hindu certificate has increased. More than 40,000 Hindu certificates have already been issued from the camp,” said Subrata Thakur, BJP legislator from Gaighata in North 24 Parganas and an office bearer of the Matua Mahasangha.A religious sect formed by social reformer Sri Harichand Thakur (1812-1878), who is worshipped in temples as an incarnation of Vishnu, Matuas are a part of the large Namasudra community that has been living in fear and anticipation ever since the Centre notified CAA rules and launched a portal in March 2024. The Matua community has traditionally followed the members of the Thakur family as they are direct descendants of Sri Harichand Thakur. These communities are clubbed under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category.