Nadia, West Bengal: In refugee colonies stretching from Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas to Coopers’ Camp and Bagula in Nadia district, fear now structures daily life. As the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list gathers pace, thousands of Matua and refugee families find themselves suspended between an uncertain promise of citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the immediate threat of being struck off the electoral rolls.The Matua community is a Dalit refugee-origin population spread across North 24 Parganas and Nadia.“I uploaded my CAA form at Thakur Bari five months ago after paying Rs 3,200. But I received no response. I submitted an affidavit stating that I came from Bangladesh, but even after filling up the CAA form, I still did not get citizenship. My name is not on the 2002 voter list. I don’t know what will happen now, we are extremely worried,” said Makhan Biswas from Gaighata near the Indo-Bangladesh border.Biswas has made frequent trips between government offices and party functionaries. “I keep coming here from time to time to ask when the problem will be resolved. Then they tell me, ‘You did it through Subrata Thakur (BJP MLA from Gaighata), go there.’ When I go to Subrata’s office, I see a long queue of people like me, but there’s no one in the office. Will Modiji save us? I don’t understand anything anymore.”Rinku Shil has been removed from the voter listbecause no government documents could be produced in her name. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.At Thakurnagar’s Thakur Bari, the religious and organisational centre of the Matua community, CAA application camps have been running for months under the leadership of Union minister of state and a faction leader of the All India Matua Mahasangha, Shantanu Thakur.“There are 1 crore 20 lakh Matuas in the state,” Shantanu Thakur said. “Around 76,000 people have applied at our camps in the last seven months. About 1,500 people have already received citizenship certificates. The rest will get them soon.”The figures themselves raise troubling questions. If 76,000 applications have been submitted and only around 1,500 approvals issued, then barely 2% of applicants have received citizenship certificates so far, even as the final voter list is expected within the next two months.Responding to concerns about exclusions, Shantanu Thakur told The Wire, “We are hopeful that no one will be excluded. Some people are misleading others. Don’t be misled by them.”Another CAA camp has been operating from the same Thakur Bari premises under Subrata Thakur, the BJP MLA from Gaighata and leader of another faction of the Mahasangha. According to camp organisers, around 3,000 people applied for citizenship over the last six months. Subrata admitted, “More than 250 people have already received citizenship certificates.” Even by these figures, fewer than 10% of applicants have received approvals.In Ranaghat’s Coopers’ Camp area, elderly Maya Halder, with her foursons, continues to petition the Commission because the photographs ofher sons do not match the photograph of their father. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.At a BJP workers’ meeting in Barrackpore earlier this month, Union home minister Amit Shah accused West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee of stoking fear among Matuas and promised that their voting rights would be protected. Ground reports from Matua and refugee settlements, however, suggest a sharply different reality.Across the four assembly constituencies of Bongaon subdivision alone, nearly 2.18 lakh voters have been issued SIR hearing notices. EC sources say that so far, fewer than 60,000 people or less than one-third have appeared for hearings. Officials acknowledge that the majority of those served notices belong to the Matua community, many of whose family names do not appear in the 2002 voter list, categorised as “no-mapping” cases.The EC has said that certificates issued after applications identifying individuals as Bangladeshis will be accepted as documents during SIR. Following this announcement, thousands of Matuas applied under the CAA. But for many, the absence of names in the 2002 voter list has emerged as a critical barrier during verification.“Many forms were uploaded secretly, but no government representative has come yet. So people here don’t know if they’ll be able to vote this time. BJP leaders say it’s an administrative matter. What can they do?” said Bhavasundar Sikdar, from Ranaghat.The impact of SIR is being felt acutely in Coopers’ Camp, a refugee settlement near Ranaghat established in 1960 for people fleeing East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Despite decades of residence, land allotments and voting history, residents say their legitimacy is suddenly being questioned.“I received a notice asking why there is a 50-year age gap between my parents and me. My parents are deceased. My husband is a daily wage labourer. I have no documents except my father’s ration card. They told me my name will no longer be on the voter list,” said Rinku Shil, a 26-year-old homemaker.In Ranaghat’s Coopers’ Camp area, Renuka Sarkar from the Bagula areaof Nadia district is struggling with how to stand in the hearing queuewhile caring for her bedridden elderly husband. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.For Maya Halder, 70, the process has been equally devastating. “My four sons received notices. They said their faces don’t match their photographs. I went as their mother and told them they are my children, but the government isn’t listening,” she said.In Bagula, part of Ranaghat South-East assembly constituency, known to be a BJP stronghold, resentment over SIR-related harassment has intensified. According to local officials, around 60,000 people in the area have been called for SIR hearings.Renuka Sarkar, a homemaker, said her husband is critically ill and bedridden. “They summoned him, saying that if he doesn’t come, he’ll be sent to Bangladesh. Out of fear, I took my sick husband and stood in line for hours. When locals got agitated at the Hanskhali BDO office, an officer came, looked at him, and said, ‘It’s fine, go home.’ If no questioning was needed, why was he summoned in the first place?” she asked.Local booth level officer Nitai Das described the pressure on officials. “Almost everyone here came from East Bengal. Some attended hearings, but many couldn’t due to livelihood issues. We’re also under pressure from the government. We understand people are in deep trouble, but we can’t do anything,” he told The Wire.Across Thakurnagar, Bongaon, Ranaghat and Bagula – areas that were lined with saffron flags, BJP offices and CAA assistance centres until recently – party offices have begun to shut and local leaders’ phones often go unanswered. the deadline for the final voter list approaches, uncertainty has deepened across Matua and refugee settlements, with residents asking whether decades of residence and past voting will count, or whether their names will quietly disappear from the rolls.Translated from Bengali to English by Aparna Bhattacharya.