Adhir Ranjan Urges Centre to Protect Voting Rights of Matuas Amid Fears of Mass Disenfranchisement

Protect the Voting Rights of West Bengal’s Matua Community: Former union Minister and senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the Centre to intervene immediately to protect the voting rights and legal status of West Bengal’s Matua community.

In a detailed letter, Chowdhury flagged what he described as the “pathetic plight” of the Matuas during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning that lakhs risk being disenfranchised due to documentary requirements they are unable to meet.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Matua Community Voting Rights

Chowdhury said the Matuas who migrated from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, during Partition and again during the 1971 war due to “ruthless and relentless persecution” are facing an “impossible task” of providing the documents mandated under SIR.

As persecuted migrants, many lack old records, he argued, and the new norms threaten their ability to continue exercising a right they have held for generations.

According to the letter, the crisis has pushed the community, under the banner of the All-India Matua Mahasangha, to resort to a fast-unto-death to draw attention to the “uncertainty clouding their future.”

Chowdhury wrote that the stringent guidelines have created a fear that Matuas could be “branded as illegals” and stripped of basic democratic rights, including the right to vote.

Who Are Matuas in West Bengal

Highlighting the long-standing integration of the community into India’s democratic process, Chowdhury noted that Matuas have participated in elections for decades, served as MLAs and MPs, and have been part of diverse political streams. Yet, he said, they have also been repeatedly used as “political pawns.”

Chowdhury expressed surprise that despite voting in elections including panchayat and municipal polls—names of a large number of Matuas are now missing from the 2002 electoral roll, which serves as the base document for SIR. Forcing them to produce nearly 25-year-old documents, he wrote, is “cruel and uncalled for,” especially given the hardships under which they migrated.

The Congress leader urged the Home Minister to exempt Matuas from the “rigors” of SIR, citing both humanitarian grounds and historical context.

Referring to the ongoing implementation process of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), he pointed out that the cutoff date for determining citizenship of victims of religious persecution had recently been extended from December 31, 2014, to December 31, 2024.

On a similar basis, he proposed that the government treat Matuas as Indian citizens through an ordinance before the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.

Chowdhury noted that the community has temporarily withdrawn its hunger strike “in the hope of being heard,” and appealed for a sympathetic approach rooted in historical and social realities.

He reminded the Home Minister that Matuas form the largest segment of the Scheduled Caste population in West Bengal and have lived in the country for decades as contributing members of society.

The letter ends with a plea for urgent central intervention to ensure that the marginalised community can continue to enjoy the rights of bona fide citizens “without any threat, fear or hardship.”