Politics over Bangladeshi infiltrators has intensified in Jharkhand ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. All the political parties are trying to gain an edge through issues. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is going among the people with the slogans of ‘Mati, Beti, Roti’ and ‘Bangladeshi infiltration’.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the main partner in the INDI Alliance, is cornering the opposition parties through slogans ranging from ‘water-forest-land’ to ‘Maiyaan Samman Yojana’ and ‘jail ka jawab jeet se’.
Elections in Jharkhand will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20 and leaders of both the major alliances are sweating it out in the election campaign. Within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) BJP is contesting on 68 seats, AJSU on 10, JDU on 2 and LJP on 1 seat. The INDI Alliance parties like JMM have fielded candidates on 43 seats, Congress on 30 and RJD on 7 seats.
Bangladeshi infiltrators a polls issue
On Sunday, Home Minister Amit Shah released the BJP’s Sankalp Patra in Ranchi where the party has promised that if it comes to power in the state, it will make laws to deal with the problem of Bangladeshi infiltrators. BJP said that along with stopping infiltration, it will make laws to take back those lands which have been occupied by the infiltrators or have been purchased by fraud.
It may be noted that this time in the Jharkhand elections, the issue of Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators is being raised loudly. From the general public to the court, everyone is giving their reaction on the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration and accusing the Hemant Soren government of not taking the issue seriously.
This is the reason why the BJP is raising this issue loudly. It says that Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators have become dominant in the state, especially in the Santhal Pargana region. These infiltrators are involved in everything from land jihad to love jihad. The tribal community is the most troubled by this. The very existence of many tribes is in danger. The infiltrators have badly affected this society.
Top BJP leadership including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP’s Jharkhand election in-charge and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to Assam Chief Minister and BJP’s co-in-charge for Jharkhand elections Himanta Biswa Sarma, has been constantly raising the issue of ‘Bangladeshi infiltration’.
State BJP President and party candidate from Giridih district’s Dhanwar assembly seat Babulal Marandi has even come up with statistics while terming ‘Bangladeshi infiltration’ a serious challenge in the state, especially Santhal Pargana. He has been claiming that the tribal population in the state was 36 per cent in 1951, which has come down to 26 per cent in the 2011 census. At the same time, the population of Muslims has increased from 9 per cent to about 14.5 per cent while the population of Hindus in the state has also come down from 88 per cent to 81 per cent.
It may be noted that Santhal Pargana is being mentioned the most on the issue of ‘Bangladeshi infiltration’ in Jharkhand. This area has special importance in terms of victory and defeat in elections as there are 18 assembly seats in Santhal Pargana and it is said in the politics of Jharkhand that the decisive battle for power takes place on these seats. It is a popular belief that whoever gains an edge in Santhal, comes closer to power.
According to some media reports, some districts in Jharkhand’s Santhal-Pargana division are just 40-50 km away from the Bangladesh border. Pakur district is the closest among them as it is adjacent to Dhuliyan in West Bengal, which shares the border with Bangladesh. The Ganges river flows between Bangladesh and Dhuliyan, which makes infiltration possible after crossing it by boat.
Former Jharkhand CM and BJP leader Champai Soren claims, ‘Today the number of Bangladeshi infiltrators are increasing in Santhal Pargana. More than a dozen villages of Santhal have been occupied by Bangladeshi infiltrators. In the village where 100-150 tribal families used to live, not even a single family is left there today.’
Issue reaches court
Meanwhile, the Hemant Soren government has approached the Supreme Court against the investigation of Bangladeshi infiltration in Jharkhand. The High Court had said to form a fact-finding committee to know the truth of the matter. The state government has opposed it. The Supreme Court has said that it will hear the matter on November 8.
During the hearing, the central government had told the High Court that the population balance in many areas of Jharkhand including Santhal Pargana has been disturbed. Bangladeshi infiltration could be the reason for this. The Centre had also told that people of the Muslim community are getting land on a large scale through gift deeds in areas that were once tribal-dominated.
It may be noted that realising the seriousness of the infiltration, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Jharkhand High Court wherein it was alleged that Muslims are being systematically infiltrated in some districts of Jharkhand. Tribal girls are being lured, converted and married. The PIL said that Santhal Pargana is on the priority list of Islamic forces. According to the 2011 census, 5857 Muslim tribes are registered. These days, Muslim tribes are deliberately trapping Hindu and tribal girls through love jihad marrying them and occupying the land of the tribal community.
