What About CAA? All Eyes On Amit Shah's Bengal Rally

When will the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act, or the CAA, be framed? All eyes will be on home minister Amit Shah's rally at Thakurnagar in West Bengal on Thursday to get an answer to this question plaguing a majority of Bengal's Hindu migrant population from Bangladesh, especially the politically influential Matua community. 

Shah is scheduled to address a rally at Thakurnagar, along Bangladesh border in south Bengal, in the evening, after addressing a rally at Cooch Behar in north Bengal in the afternoon.  

Shah's is scheduled to address his first rally of the day in Assam, another poll-bound state, after which he will fly to Bengal. 

The CAA is an issue in Assam, too, but there the CAA could put the BJP in more of a disadvantageous position, whereas they hope to gain from the CAA in West Bengal. It is being perceived that the BJP is going slow on the CAA considering the probable backlash in Assam, where local ethnic groups are opposing this Act.  

It has been more than a year since the CAA was passed in the Parliament amidst protests in the House and on the streets. The Centre, after the passing of the six-month tenure for framing the rules, has sought three extensions of three months each, the last of which will end in mid-April. 

No BJP leader has so far given any definitive answer on when they are planning to frame the rules, which is a mandatory step before implementing the legislation and granting citizenship based on this Act. 

Shah was scheduled to address a gathering at Thakurnagar, the headquarter of the Matua sect, at the end of January but he postponed the address following a blast in Delhi near the Isreal embassy. 

There has been a great deal of apprehension among the Matuas, who play a determining role in the outcome of more than two dozen Assembly constituencies in south Bengal, over what procedures will be set for getting citizenship under this Act. 

The Matuas over overwhelmingly in favour of the BJP in the 2019 elections, helping the saffron party win both Lok Sabha seats - Ranaghat and Bongaon -- where Matuas are the deciding factor. 

The Matua community has remained divided between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP over the past few years. Bongaon's TMC MP was Mamata Thakur, who heads the pro-TMC faction of Matua Mahasangha, the highest religious body of the Matua sect. Mamata Thakur was defeated in 2019 by her nephew-in-law, Shantanu Thakur, who heads the pro-BJP faction of the Mahasangha. 

Shantanu had promised the Matua voters that they need not worry about a citizenship screening drive in the style of Assam that left many Matua members in Assam out of the citizenship list. 

Shantanu had promised the BJP will implement the CAA and ensure protection for all of Matuas against any probable implementation of a nation-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC) 

Over the past few months, pressure has been mounting on Shantanu Thakur as time passed, with the Centre making no move towards implementing CAA. Amit Shah's November 2020 speech in Bengal further complicated matter for him, as Shah said that the CAA was a secondary priority for the government, after vaccination for Covid-19, which the home minister said was the top priority.

Shah's statement had triggered anxieties among the BJP's Matua vote bank, following which his rally at Thakurnagar was scheduled at the end of January. 

Last week, following the cancellation of Shah's scheduled event, Shantanu had told his followers that the rules will be simplified and that Shah will explain everything. 

Majority of the Matuas want granting of unconditional citizenship, without having to submit documents declaring self as a migrant from Bangladesh. 

The TMC's Mamata Thakur and state food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick have alleged that the BJP is fooling the Matuas with false promises. TMC has repeatedly said that the self-declaration would land citizenship-seekers in trouble. 

"If Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur and his voters need fresh citizenship, then on the basis of whose votes and which documents did he get elected to Parliament? If an MP needs fresh citizenship document, don't elections turn into a farce," Mallick asked.  

The TMC, the Left and the Congress have maintained that documents like voters' ID card, Aadhaar and ration cards were solid proofs of one's citizenship. 

Earlier, the West Bengal state Assembly had passed a resolution stating that neither of the CAA or NRC would be implemented in West Bengal. The Left and the Congress had supported the ruling TMC's motion with this regards in the Assembly.