Binapani Devi, the matriarch of West Bengal's largest refugee community, who was in the middle of the recent political crossfire between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, died on Tuesday night.
Binapani Devi (102) was an iconic figure for the Matua community in West Bengal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month had gone to her house at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas and touched her feet for blessings. Binapani Devi was popularly known as 'Boro Ma'.
Following her death, Modi tweeted, "Boro Ma Binapani Thakur was an icon of our times. A source of great strength and inspiration for several people, Boro Ma’s rich ideals will continue to influence generations. Her emphasis on social justice and harmony will never be forgotten." Modi also tweeted about his meeting with Boro Ma. "Last month, I had the honour of seeking the blessings of Boro Ma Binapani Thakur at Thakurnagar. I will always cherish the interaction I had with her. We stand in solidarity with the Matua community in this hour of sadness."
Unfortunately, Boro Ma's death has left his family split on the issue of political affiliations. One group of the family of Boro Ma is close to the Trinamool Congress with a daughter-in-law, Mamata Bala Thakur, being a Lok Sabha MP. The other group in Boro Ma's family has allied with the BJP. This group is led by one of her sons, Manjul Krishna Thakur, a former minister in Mamata Banerjee's first government and now a BJP leader.
During Modi's visit to Thakurnagar in early February, the political rumblings were laced with much hatred between the BJP and Trinamool Congress. The Trinamool Congress government allegedly did not allow use of a big ground in Thakurnagar for the prime minister's rally. The party of Mamata Banerjee allegedly even tried to prevent Modi from meeting Boro Ma, citing her deteriorating health.
However, finally, the constitutional 'superiority' of the prime minister's post prevailed over Banerjee's 'plan'.
The Matuas, who originally hail from Bangladesh, faced religious persecution in their homeland. Around 2 crore Matuas, mostly from backward communities, flooded into West Bengal after partition and even after the 1971 Bangladesh war. Many of the Matuas even today do not have citizenship in West Bengal.
Boro Ma was reportedly delighted with Modi's push for passing the Citizenship Bill and herself decided to meet Modi despite her close ties to Banerjee. Boro Ma reportedly wrote a letter to Mamata Banerjee, asking her to support the Citizenship Bill in the Rajya Sabha when it was going to be tabled. Banerjee, however, did not do this, and Trinamool members claim Boro Ma was "forced to” sign the letter to the chief minister.
Whenever Boro Ma announced support to a particular political party, it has provided high value to the particular party. It was not every time she invoked her diktat asking the Matua community to vote for a political party. But in 2011, Boro Ma did that and asked her community to vote in favour of the Trinamool Congress. The Trinamool won the election in a big way.
This time, Boro Ma had not issued any diktat and was reportedly peeved at the crossfire between two section of the Matua community. Now with her death, the Matua community would be leaderless.
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Political observers believe members of the Matua community would go by their own reading of the political situation rather than respecting the wishes of their late leader. The Citizenship Bill had brought the entire community closer to the BJP as Modi created a huge wave among the supporters of the community.
Banerjee also issued a condolence message and described the death of Boro Ma as a heavy loss. Banerjee has decided to accord Boro Ma a funeral with state honours.
