Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said that Matua refugees coming to West Bengal from neighboring Bangladesh will be released in the coming days and will also be provided land and housing in the state. Whereas he was jailed during the previous government of Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee.
After all, who are Matua?
He also promised that these Matua refugees will first be given citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and then their names will be registered in the voter list. The Matua are a backward class Hindu community that came from the former East Pakistan or present-day Bangladesh and have settled in different parts of West Bengal from time to time since independence.
The Chief Minister officer made these promises while addressing the Second International Matua Gosai Conference at Thakurbari, the ancestral home of the Matua leadership in Thakurnagar, Bangaon in North 24 Parganas district.
People of Matua community had to face heavy atrocities – Officials
The Chief Minister said that after the recent change of government in Bangladesh, many of the Matua community, among the Hindu brothers settled there, had to face severe atrocities. Then, in West Bengal, the previous Trinamool Congress government selectively arrested many Hindu refugees, including those from the Matua community. On September 1, 2025, our Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised that till December 31, 2024, those leaving Bangladesh and entering India will not be touched by the police.
Subsequently, the Chief Minister official announced that if any Matua refugees are still jailed without trial in any of the reform homes located at Bangaon and Barasat bordering North 24 Parganas and Ranaghat in Nadia district, they will be honorably released and given land and houses. In his speech, the Chief Minister also promised to give CAA certificates to the people of Matua community by December 31 this year.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister Adhikari launched a scathing attack on the opposition parties and the CJP's agitation on the twin issues of Special Intensive Review (SIR) and removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Chief Minister said that those trying to destabilize the country and the state will not be spared. We will fight against them. Hindus will never again become refugees in their own land.