KOLKATA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured the Matua community that the voting rights of individuals who have submitted applications for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be preserved.
While speaking to the media in Kolkata, he confirmed that community members who have applied for citizenship will retain their voting rights.
“The people from the Matua community have nothing to worry about. Every refugee who has come to India will be treated as a citizen. This is the BJP’s promise. No one can harm them. Not even Mamata Banerjee, ” the Union Home Minister said, affirming that the protection of the refugees will continue along with the drive against infiltrators.
Matuas are people from a socially backward community who came to West Bengal as refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh and settled in various pockets of the state, with their concentration being mainly in Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts.