West Bengal CM Mamata slams Centre, ECI over Matua name deletions ahead of SIR protest

Kolkata: A day ahead of sitting for dharna over Bengal SIR from March 6, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday attacked the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the apprehension of Matua name deletions from the final Special Intensive Revision (SIR)in West Bengal.

In the Matua belt of North 24 Parganas’ Bongaon Lok Sabha Constituency, with Bagda, Bangoan, Gaighata, being completely Matua dominated, and Nadia districts, altogether 71,000 plus names have been deleted, after the draft list. In Nadia district, 2,67, 940 have gone for adjudication while in North 24 Parganas, which is largely minority dominated, with a segment in Bangoan Lok Sabha Constituency being Matua dominated, have 5,91, 252 adjudication cases.

Taking to her social media handle X, Banerjee posted about her concern on the death anniversary of Binapani Devi, Matua matriarch of Matua Mahasangha in West Bengal, on Thursday.


“It is very unfortunate that due to the conspiracy of the BJP government at the Centre, the Matua brothers and sisters have been pushed into an unstable and confusing situation. Political games are being played in the name of giving citizenship. Questions are being raised about their identity. They are being deliberately excluded from the voter list by SIR. Those who are citizens of this country through generations, whose votes the government is elected, are being made to face uncertainty in the name of giving them a new 'citizenship',” Banerjee said in her X Handle.

“We will not accept this injustice. Our fight will continue for the rights of the people of Bengal, including my Matua brothers and sisters. We will not allow any harm to the people of Bengal. This is my pledge on this special day,” she said.

Matuas Community are Hindu backward class community, a strong votebank of BJP, who came to India due to religious persecution as refugees from Bangladesh and settled in different pockets in West Bengal, mainly in North 24 Parganas and Nadia.

The Chief Minister is scheduled to start a sit-in demonstration at Esplanade in Central Kolkata to protest against the SIR exercise.

Former BJP National secretary Rahul Sinha said that the Chief Minister is unnecessarily trying to provoke the Matuas. “Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Minister of Home Affairs had once again assured that not a single Matua will be denied their citizenship.

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