In the last few months, many questions have been raised about how serious the Modi government is regarding the implementation of CAA. Putting all the questions to rest, Amit Shah recently revealed that as early as COVID-19 is over, CAA will be implemented all over the country.
“This is also an area home to many refugees. Since 70 years, people have come here. This is their second or third generation but they haven’t got citizenship. I have assured that after forming government in Bengal, we have already brought in the CAA law and it will be implemented in all places including Bengal,” Shah said.
Shah also added that this is a law of the country, and it has got nothing to do with a particular government (referring to the Modi government).
CAA is an important issue in West Bengal and the Hindu community of the state rallies behind BJP in support of the bill. Millions of persecuted Hindus from Bangladesh, who migrated to West Bengal, are yet to get citizenship. The Hindus from West Bengal would probably be the biggest beneficiary of the bill, as many of them – especially those from Dalit communities or poor backgrounds – are yet to get citizenship from India.
Many communities which are categorised as Scheduled Castes, especially the Matua community which constitutes a sizable chunk of the population in Southern West Bengal, have rallied behind the CAA.
The reason behind the support of CAA by this community, marginalised under the TMC and Communist rule, is that many of them trace their ancestry to East Bengal. And, they were ill-treated by the Communist government when they migrated to West Bengal amid the persecution of Hindus during the 1970s.
Mamata Banerjee is caught in the dilemma because if she supports CAA then she will lose Muslim voters who constitute around one-third of the state’s total voters. And, if she opposes CAA, the Dalit community of West Bengal, which voted in significant numbers for BJP in the 2019 General Elections, will completely boycott her.
Mamata Banerjee is trying to placate the Dalit community through “Patta land” but CAA is closer to the heart of the community than land, and she is not ready to support the Citizenship bill because she has to protect her Muslim community votes.
“We’ll see to the patta issue later but Mamata Banerjee should first clarify if she supports CAA or not. She’s treating Matuas as beggars. We’re not begging. We have one small demand: CAA,” said Shantanu Thakur, Joint President of All India Matua Mahasangha.
The implementation of CAA is going to hurt the left-liberals, secularists, communists, and others on the other side of the political spectrum because, despite their tooth and nail opposition and rioting, the act is going to be implemented in the country very soon. Moreover, this has become a rallying point for Hindus of West Bengal and will ensure the ouster of Mamata Banerjee, which is going to be a double whammy for the people on the other side.