Union Minister announces CAA implementation within a week: Report

Union Minister Shantanu Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, has stated in an interview that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be implemented in India within a week. Thakur, who represents an area with a significant Matua community in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, emphasized the swift execution of the controversial legislation, guaranteeing its implementation within seven days.

The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government in 2019, aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.

Thakur, also a leader of the Matua community and the Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, reiterated his claim on a separate occasion, asserting that the CAA would be implemented before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls this year.

The Matuas, a significant part of West Bengal’s Scheduled Caste population, migrated to the state since the 1950s due to religious persecution in East Pakistan, later becoming Bangladesh. In recent decades, political parties in West Bengal actively sought the support of the Matuas, given their substantial population and tendency to vote together, considering them a valuable voting bloc similar to the minorities.

Thakur’s insistence on CAA implementation comes amid reports suggesting that the rules for the legislation would be notified well before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Matua community is expected to benefit the most from the implementation of the CAA, as they are among the persecuted minorities covered by the legislation.

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, which strongly opposes the CAA, reacted strongly to Thakur’s statements, labeling the legislation as “divisive.” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dismissed Thakur’s promises, accusing BJP leaders of political gimmickry and asserting that Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister, has made it clear that the CAA won’t be implemented in West Bengal.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reiterated the inevitability of implementing the CAA, describing it as the law of the land. During a BJP meeting in Kolkata, he accused Mamata Banerjee of misleading the public on the CAA issue. The TMC has consistently opposed the CAA, with Banerjee alleging that the BJP is using the citizenship issue for political gain.

In the past, the promise of implementing the controversial CAA played a crucial role in the BJP’s electoral campaigns in West Bengal. Party leaders believe it contributed significantly to the BJP’s rise in the state.

According to parliamentary procedures, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek an extension from the committees on subordinate legislation in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. However, since 2020, the Home Ministry has been taking regular extensions from parliamentary committees to frame the rules.

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