- A "detect, delete, and deport" warning has triggered a massive rush at CAA verification centers in Bengal
- Residents who migrated from Bangladesh are rushing to get certificates to protect their citizenship
- Facing a sudden surge of applicants, authorities are opening extra service windows
Getting a citizenship certificate under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is mandatory for those who have migrated to India from Bangladesh, Santosh Das told NDTV as he arrived at a verification centre at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district in Bengal.
The centre in Barasat is unusually crowded: with people lining outside the Barasat office, some seen sitting on the staircase steps, while others hovering around the office in the hot weather.
People awaiting their turn at CAA verification centre at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district
People waiting on staircase steps for a hearing at the CAA verification centre
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's "detect, delete and deport" policy warning last week for illegal foreign nationals appears to be the trigger behind the rush.
Adhikari had announced that infiltrators detained by state police would be handed over directly to the BSF for deportation instead of being routed through prolonged legal processes.
At a meeting with senior BSF officers where land was handed over for fencing work along stretches of the Bangladesh border, Adhikari indicated that the state's anti-infiltration agenda had entered the implementation phase.
He had maintained that those outside the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act would be treated as illegal entrants.
"Those who are outside the purview of the CAA are infiltrators and will be arrested by the state police and handed over to the BSF," Adhikari had said.
On Monday, Malda became the first district to set up a holding centre for illegal foreign nationals, where nine suspected Bangladeshis have been housed.
Santosh Das, a resident of Habra, a bustling semi-urban municipality in Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, visited the CAA verification centre to get a certificate for his elder parents. The 40-year-old's parents have been waiting to get a certificate since December 2025.
Santosh's father Gopal Das, 72, and his mother Ashoka Das, 65, had come to India in 1993.
The family was given 17 bighas of land in a remote village in Habra which they got in exchange for 27 Bighas of land that Gopal left behind in his ancestral village in Jessore district of Bangladesh.
"We had applied for Indian citizenship certificate to be issued for both my parents. They came from Bangladesh in the '90s. Since then we have been earning bread and butter while farming. My parents could not cast their vote this election, but I did. Now given the current situation we have realised getting a CAA certificate is mandatory for those who have migrated to India from Bangladesh," Das told NDTV.
Harakanta Gayen, a member of the Matua community, was able to vote this time as he was issued a CAA certificate before Bengal polls.
The 76-year-old had queued up before the CAA verification centre for his wife Bichitra, 65, a resident of Chandpara. They said they came here for the hearing in the CAA verification process.
"We had come from Bangladesh in 1983, the year before Indira Gandhi was killed. We had to flee our villages. We don't know what will happen to us in future if we don't have the citizenship card," Gayen said.
Another resident of North 24 Parganas claimed the rush at the centre was a fallout of "miscommunication created by the previous Trinamool government".
People awaiting their turn at CAA verification centre
People gathered in big numbers outside a CAA verification centre
"The kind of rush we are seeing at CAA verification centre is fall out of the miscommunication created by the previous TMC led government. They wrongfully created fear among the Matua community. Now people have realised that citizenship is important. Which is why they are heading to centres," Debprasad Gayen said.
Gopal Das says he could not vote during the just concluded Bengal polls as his name got deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
"I have been casting votes since I came to India in 1993. We have a voter card, Aadhaar card and ration card issued in our names. But I could not cast my vote in this assembly poll as both of our names got deleted following SIR. Getting citizenship following CAA has become necessary for us or else we will be deprived from getting all government benefits," Gopal Das said.
Mahanda Biswas, 55, a resident of Bagda in North 24 Parganas, urged the officials to ease out the process to get a certificate.
"Yes, we are looking forward to getting Indian citizenship. But we would request officials to ease out the process to get a citizenship certificate," Biswas said.
A top official of North Parganas CAA verification centre said that more windows will be set up to help decongest.
"Seeing sudden surge in the number of CAA applications we are trying to accommodate people arriving for hearing. Four windows have been set up in the Barasat office currently, and one more will be in function from tomorrow. Proper facilities of drinking water and toilets are being made in our office so that people face less difficulties amid extreme weather conditions," a top official told NDTV.
