Suvendu Adhikari has promised to secure CAA certificates, release eligible Matua refugees held in jail and provide land and houses to them if the BJP returns to power in West Bengal, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin. He made the remarks while addressing a gathering in Thakurnagar, a major centre of the Matua community.
Adhikari said the period of deprivation faced by Matuas would end under a BJP government and linked the community’s concerns to the Citizenship Amendment Act. He also said the Centre and the state would work together on the issue, while accusing the Trinamool Congress government of targeting Hindu refugees.
The report quoted Adhikari as saying that Matuas held in jails in areas including Bongaon, Barasat and Ranaghat without trial would be released with dignity. He further promised that they would be given land and houses on the model of a housing and land-assistance approach associated with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Adhikari also said that Matua refugees would receive CAA certificates by 31 December. The report linked his remarks to a claim that people who entered India from Bangladesh to save their lives up to 31 December 2024 would not be subjected to police action, citing a statement he attributed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 1 September 2025.
The CAA provides a legal framework for citizenship applications by members of specified non-Muslim communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. The report, however, does not provide details of the number of Matua applicants, the status of their applications, or any government order confirming the proposed land and housing assistance.
Adhikari also referred to reports of attacks on Hindus and Matuas in Bangladesh following political changes there. During the speech, he used strongly worded language against groups he described as destabilising India and West Bengal and called for greater vigilance against them.
The proposed assistance would require decisions on eligibility, land identification, housing finance, title documentation and coordination between the state administration and the Centre. No department, budget, land parcel or implementation schedule for the promised housing programme was identified in the report. The next stated milestone is the promised issuance of CAA certificates by 31 December.
