MATUA

About:

• The Matua community has members on either side of the Bengal border.
  
  
• It is associated with a religious movement begun in the 1870s by Harichand Thakur of a Namasudra (SC) family, who hailed from Safaldanga in East Bengal.
  
  
• In the early 20th century, his son Guruchand organised the movement socially and politically. In 1915, the Matua Federation was established.
  
  
• Today, Matuas constitute the second largest SC population of West Bengal. Government sources put their number at around 17% of the state’s electorate.
  
  
• For years, the Matuas were demanding an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 2003, whose provisions made it difficult for refugees to get citizenship.