Why BJP government is dragging its feet on CAA implementation
Behind the Centre’s dilemma are three reasons: objections in Assam, fears over possible Rajbanshi backlash and Dhaka's reservations
Among the BJP’s long list of unfulfilled promises in West Bengal, the non-implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) remains the worst, pricking the political thorn in its flesh.
So much so that it has almost become a ritual for the party to renew the promise before every election in the state ever since the contentious act was enacted in December 2019.
From Union home minister Amit Shah to state BJP leaders, everyone is reiterating the promise in this election season too.
BJP's constant assurances
"The CAA is the law of the country, no one can stop its implementation,” Shah said earlier this month, asserting that the law will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.
Another Union minister and BJP MP from Bengal, Shantanu Thakur, in January claimed that the act would be implemented within a week.
The Union minister of state for shipping and ports had said that his party would never go back on its promise of implementing the CAA and that the BJP-led government at the Centre would notify the rules to implement the act “within a week”. Later he said it was a slip of tongue.
Flip-flops
Last week, Thakur, once again claimed that the CAA rules would be rolled out before the parliamentary elections.
The flip-flop exposes the BJP’s dilemma over the act that has been introduced by the Narendra Modi government to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants who crossed over to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.
The implementation of the CAA was the BJP’s prime pre-election promise to the Matuas ahead of the 2019 parliamentary battle. The Matuas are a religious sect belonging to the Namasudra community that constitutes the second largest Scheduled Caste (SC) population with a share of 17.4 per cent.
Why Matuas backed BJP
The Matuas started migrating to India from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, from 1950 primarily due to religious persecution. Their citizenship came under cloud after the term “illegal migrant” figured in the Citizenship Act, amended in 2003.
The community overwhelmingly backed the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections following the party’s promise to solve their citizenship problem.
Even in the last assembly elections in 2021, a large section of the community kept their faith in the BJP. Of the 38 SC-dominated seats the party pocketed then, 15 came from Matua-dominated constituencies.
Mamata's assurance no match to CAA allure
That explains the importance of the CAA for the BJP. The TMC and other political parties of the state, however, maintain that the apprehension of the community over citizenship is due to misunderstanding created by the BJP.
“I am assuring the Matua community that you are citizens of India and I am assuring that no one can snatch your citizenship,” TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said while addressing concerns of the community.
Despite such assurance, Matua organisations continue to press for the CAA implementation as many from the community are yet to get Indian citizenship.
“We have waited long enough for the implementation of the CAA. Our patience is now running out. If the Centre fails to implement the law before this election, the party will be wiped out of the Matua belt. We will not win a single seat,” a BJP Matua leader told The Federal.
The BJP suffered a setback in the Matua belt when its young Matua leader and Ranaghat South MLA joined the TMC last week. The TMC gave him nominations for the Ranaghat Lok Sabha seat on Sunday.
The non-implementation of the CAA could lead to a mass exodus, warned the BJP leader.
Three reasons behind Centre's reluctance
The party is dragging its feet on implementing the law primarily because of three reasons – strong objections from the party’s Assam unit, apprehension over a possible Rajbanshi backlash in Bengal and above all Bangladesh’s reservation over the law.
“I support CAA. But at the same time, many people in Assam oppose it. We have to accommodate both points of view. We should not criticise anyone for supporting or criticizing CAA. Those who are opposing CAA should go to the Supreme Court, instead of disturbing peace and tranquillity in Assam," Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said recently.
The north-eastern state is witnessing anti-CAA protests from student bodies and opposition parties.
"There is a strong perception among the people of Assam, irrespective of caste, creed and political affiliations, that the CAA 2019 will put in danger the culture, history, socio-economic condition, social fabric and identity of Assamese people,” the United Opposition Forum, Assam (UOFA), a conglomerate of 16 opposition parties, said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.
The All Assam Students Union (AASU) and 30 other organisations are also opposing implementation of the Act.
Rajbanshis in Bengal
Assam BJP sources said the Centre was conveyed about the volatile situation the state would face if the CAA was implemented.
The fear in Assam is that the indigenous population would be swamped by illegal migrants from Bangladesh if the citizenship law is rolled out to regularise the settlement of Bengali Hindu migrants.
Similar apprehension is also there among the Rajbanshi community in West Bengal, said Probir Pramanik, a Siliguri-based senior journalist.
Rajbanshis are the largest SC group in the state, making up for 18.4 per cent of the backward community’s population.
The community has a significant influence in five of North Bengal’s eight parliamentary seats. The BJP won all the five seats last time.
“The BJP is caught between the conflicting interests of the two major SC communities of Bengal,” Pramanik said, adding the party was trying to keep Rajbansis in good humour with a promise to protect their identity.
Objections by Bangladesh
The party's earlier promise to the community to name a new Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) battalion after Narayani Sena is yet to be fulfilled. The Narayani Sena was the army of the erstwhile princely state of Cooch Behar, the kingdom of Rajbansis.
The party last year nominated Ananta 'Maharaj' to the Rajya Sabha. His organisation, Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, champions the cause of a separate state for Rajbanshis by carving out some districts of north-Bengal and lower Assam.
Besides, diplomatic constraints are also holding back the BJP government from making the CAA a reality.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has openly expressed her reservation over the new law saying it was not necessary. Her government reportedly conveyed her country’s reservation to the Act through diplomatic channels.
