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A goods vehicle carrying a group of Matuas returning from the Hindu Dalit community’s annual religious festival at Thakurnagar in Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district was allegedly stoned by miscreants on the night of March 29, leaving two people injured, Union minister of state and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Shantanu Thakur alleged on Friday.
The vehicle was attacked at Kazipara in the Barasat area of North 24 Parganas, alleged Thakur. The Matuas had gone to Thakurnagar to attend the Baruni festival held to mark the birth anniversary of their patriarch leader Harichand Thakur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the inauguration of the festival on March 29.
“The miscreants stoned the vehicle and insulted the women travelling in it. Two men were injured. One of them is admitted in hospital. We lodged a police complaint and four people were arrested. The Matuas will start a state-wide agitation unless all the miscreants are nabbed,” said Thakur, the MP from Bongaon in North 24 Parganas and president of the All-India Matua Mahasangha.
The BJP leader’s aunt, Mamata Bala Thakur, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Bongaon constituency’s former MP, also condemned the attack.
“The state government promptly took action and four people were arrested. We urge the administration to ensure the safety of the pilgrims,” she said.
Bengal BJP Lok Sabha member Locket Chatterjee raised the issue in Parliament in her speech on Friday. She alleged that the pilgrims were attacked by members of a particular community and the women were molested.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the matter was being politicised by the BJP although the police acted on the complaint.
Shortly after the Bengal BJP state committee underwent a reshuffle in January this year, Shantanu Thakur alleged that the state leadership ignored the Matua community whose support helped the party bag several Lok Sabha and assembly seats in 2019 and 2021.
Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar had to dissolve the new cells and departments on January 13 following protests.
Shantanu Thakur has demanded implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which offers citizenship to non-Muslims who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015. The TMC insists that the law is unconstitutional as it links citizenship to faith in a secular country.
The Matuas are a part of the large Dalit Namasudra community that migrated from East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) during India’s partition in 1947 and the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War to escape religious persecution.
Shantanu Thakur, 39, was made minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways during the Union cabinet reshuffle last year. This was seen as a move by the BJP central leadership to keep the Matuas happy as Thakur has been demanding immediate implementation of the new citizenship law.
Thakur accompanied Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to Bangladesh on the eve of the March-April assembly polls last year. Modi offered prayers at the Matua temple at Orakandi near Dhaka and praised Thakur in his speech, triggering a sharp reaction from chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
In February last year, Union home minister Amit Shah announced during his visit to Thakurnagar that the Centre will enforce the citizenship law once vaccination across the country is over and the Covid-19 pandemic ends.
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