BJP Can't Give Citizenship To Matuas, They Already Have It: Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, claimed that if the saffron party is voted to power, it will keep the people of West Bengal in detention camps as it has done to "14 lakh Bengalis" in Assam.

Accusing the BJP of giving false promises to the members of the politically significant Matua community on citizenship, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday claimed that those people have already been given all rights as citizens. Ms Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, claimed that if the saffron party is voted to power, it will keep the people of West Bengal in detention camps as it has done to "14 lakh Bengalis" in Assam. "Your Didi (the CM herself) has already ensured citizenship right of the Matuas by facilitating land deed to every refugee occupying government or private lands. Why is the citizenship issue being raked up again?" she said at public meetings held in North 24 Parganas district. Matuas, originally from East Pakistan, are a weaker section of Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh.