Many Aadhar cards deactivated one after the other in Bengal, Bangladeshi Dalits affected the most; Sound of CAA-NRC

arun Posted On February 29, 2024

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Asim Sarkar, an MLA from the state’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has said the recent deactivation of thousands of Aadhaar cards in at least six districts of West Bengal has mostly affected Hindu Dalits from Bangladesh. The MLA told HT on Monday that these Dalits had come to India with passports after 2014, but did not go back after the visas expired. Apart from this, a Rajya Sabha member from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) also said that these Bangladeshi citizens have been living in Bengal for a long time. However, he did not tell for how many years he has been living here. This is the first time that leaders of rival parties in the state have spoken on the identity of Aadhaar card holders. The exercise to deactivate Aadhaar card started in the state this month.

TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the BJP wants to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal and deactivating the Aadhaar card is the first step of the same. Passed by Parliament in 2019, the CAA provides citizenship to non-Muslims who came to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution. TMC says the CAA is unconstitutional as it links citizenship with religion in a secular country.

Entered India with Bangladeshi passport after 2014

Asim Sarkar, who took refuge in India from Bangladesh, had won the Haringhata assembly seat in Nadia district for the BJP in 2021. He said that the process of deactivating Aadhaar cards has proved how important it is for people to support the BJP in the upcoming elections so that the CAA can be implemented. He said, “Around a thousand affected people wrote letters to me. I studied his Aadhar card and other documents. “Most of them entered India with Bangladeshi passports after 2014.” Asim Sarkar also refuted the argument made by Mamata Banerjee in which she says that the refugees who have settled here and have voted do not need a citizenship certificate under the CAA.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the Aadhaar card issuing body, wrote a letter to the people informing them that their Aadhaar card is being deactivated. In a letter seen by HT, UIDAI wrote, ‘This is to inform you that the Aadhaar number xxxx xxxx 2019 issued to you has been deactivated under the provisions of Regulation 28A of Aadhaar. This is done because you do not fulfill the requirements to reside in India.” The timing of the Aadhaar card verification by UIDAI is important. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced on February 10 that the CAA will be implemented ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, Center and BJP have maintained silence on NRC.

Dalit and Namashudra communities are most affected

Asim Sarkar said that most of those who received these letters from UIDAI are members of Dalit and Namashudra communities. Many affected people confirmed this but no one was ready to tell in which year they had come to India. He said most people were saying they had come to India “15 to 20 years ago” and “20 to 30 years ago”. Asha Biswas, a college student from Jamalpur in West Burdwan district, said, “I am 19 years old. My parents came from Bangladesh when I was a child. I can’t remember the year.”

UIDAI officials had said in a statement on February 19 that notifications are being issued from time to time to Aadhaar card holders to keep the Aadhaar database updated but no number has been cancelled. It had also said that the process of reactivating Aadhar cards will start around February 20. On this, Asim Sarkar said, “Activating the Aadhaar card again shows the kindness of the Central Government. But despite obtaining Aadhaar, PAN and ration card, one cannot stay here. I found that many of these people had come to India with passports several times even before 2014. Some people also enrolled their children in local schools and colleges, but in the eyes of the law they are not Indian citizens.”

?’Government has data of these people’

He said, “Our immigration department and the Bangladesh government have the data of these people. It has come to my notice that letters were also sent to some people who came to India illegally before 2014 but have recently received Aadhaar cards.” When the Act was passed in 2016, Calcutta High During a hearing in the court, it was said by the Bengal government that Aadhaar cannot be treated as a citizenship document. Upholding the state government’s argument, Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that as per Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, the card itself does not confer any right as proof of citizenship.

Focus towards Namasudra community

The ongoing Aadhaar controversy has focused attention towards the Namasudra community. This community started migrating to India after the partition in 1947 and the Bangladesh War of 1971. According to state records, there are around one crore people of this community in Bengal. During the 2011 census, the population of Bengal was 9.13 crore. A portion of the Namasudra population includes the Matua community which supported the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Creating a record, BJP snatched 18 out of 42 seats in Bengal and now has set a target of 35. The Matuas follow their supreme body, the All India Matua Mahasangh, based in Thakurnagar in the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency of North 24 Parganas district.

The federation had hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in Thakurnagar in 2019. Contesting the elections on a BJP ticket, the young face of the sect, Shantanu Thakur, had defeated his aunt and the then sitting MP, Mamata Bala Thakur of TMC, from the Bongaon seat. Federation President and Union Minister of State for Shipping Shantanu Thakur termed Aadhaar deactivation as a technical error and promised to help his people.

Courtesy: Hindi News