The Bengal BJP has reiterated its demand for implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) while being critical of the ruling dispensation of the state over the issue of alleged handing out of birth certificates, a vital identity proof, through delayed registration of birth, while dangling a letter sent by a health official of North Dinajpur district.
State BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya posted the letter — a reply to an RTI application — on social media and raised questions on why delayed birth registrations have been done in the district, which shares borders with Bangladesh, since last year.
“What is the reason for the delayed registration of births in such large numbers in a bordering district? This is the document that is being used to provide fake citizenship, and yet, the Trinamool government is silent,” he has written in the social media post.
He has referred to the RTI application filed by Kirit Somaiya, a former BJP MP from Mumbai, who had sought information from the North Dinajpur district administration in September about the total number of delayed birth registrations in the district.
On October 14, Sukanta Biswas, the chief medical officer of health of the district, replied to Somaiya.
In the reply, the health official mentioned that from January to December 2024, there had been 12,393 delayed birth registrations in the district. Also, from January to August this year, another 4,770 individuals have made similar registrations of their birth.
“Who all are doing this delayed registration of their birth? Why is the government silent, and why is no probe being ordered? This proves that the BJP’s demand to implement CAA to secure the rights of Indians is apt. The security of Bengal is at stake because TMC is patronising infiltration, forgery, and fake citizenship,” Bhattacharya, also a Rajya Sabha member, mentioned in the post.
Such a move by the BJP to exert pressure on Trinamool — it is also being seen as an attempt by the saffron camp to polarise votes by flagging the issue of infiltration — has made the ruling party react.
Kanaialal Agarwala, the Trinamool president of North Dinajpur district, has termed it a baseless issue.
“The BJP has become politically bankrupt in the district. That is why its leaders are desperately trying to come up with weird theories. Anybody who feels they need a birth certificate can get it. Also, in many cases, parents based in rural areas collect the birth certificates of their children late,” he said.
Biswas, the CMOH, was brief in his reaction. “In reply to the RTI, I have furnished the facts based on our official records. I cannot comment on what others interpret from it,” he said.
On whether the figures match the trend of delayed birth registrations made in earlier years, the health official said he will have to check the old records.