Stop the Commercialisation of Citizenship

Mohammad Elyas Thumbe, National General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India strongly condemns the revelations that at citizenship camps under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Thakurnagar, West Bengal, applicants from the Matua community are being charged up to ₹800 for submission of forms, along with promises of “no rejection”. These camps, reportedly overseen by senior BJP leaders, are distributing “Hindu identity cards” and “Matua membership cards” and linking citizenship rights to payment and political allegiance.Turning the grant of citizenship into a paid service is a travesty of justice. This is a transactional politics, exploiting the vulnerable and undermining the secular, democratic ethos of our nation.

SDPI demands an independent judicial inquiry into the monetisation of citizenship applications, immediate oversight by the Election Commission of India of such camps, and full transparency from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the West Bengal government. Citizenship is a right, not a commodity.