NRC de-registered 10L Matuas in Assam

Hours after senior Bengal Minister Jyotipriya Malik threatened stir complaining the members of Matua community comprising more than 10 lakh people had been de-registered courtesy National Register of Citizens, thousands of Matua people blocked railways in vast parts of North 24 Parganas disrupting train service for the major part of Wednesday, sources said. Matuas are a sub-caste within the Hindu community who had shifted to Bengal from Bangladesh in different stages, post Independence. The community that follows the preachings of religious leader Guruchand Thakur has its headquarters at Thakur Nagar in North 24 Parganas bordering Bangladesh.

A large number of the community members live in Assam. The community is currently headed by Baro Maa who resides at Thakur Nagar.

“The Matua headquarters are flooded by anxious telephone calls from the followers residing in Assam. We have reports that about 10-12 lakh members of the Matua community have been de-registered causing great inconvenience to the Matua people,” Malik said threatening prolonged movement “if their rights are not restored to them.”

Subsequently thousands of members of the community jammed railway tracks in Kolkata delaying trains by hours. The community which once backed the Left Front and later switched sides to Trinamool Congress account for a sizeable number of voters in both North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts with an influence on at least three parliamentary seats in Bengal.