Jharkhand: BJP slams state government as row escalate over communal scuffle in Pakud

A major political row has erupted in the state of Jharkhand after an opposition delegation visited the violence-hit Gopinathpur village of Pakud district of Jharkhand, adjoining West Bengal border where a violent scuffle erupted between two communities on Bakrid.

Days after the incident which witnessed vandalism of houses and stone pelting in Gopinathpur, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Jharkhand state assembly, Amar Kumar Bouri reached the Gopinathpur village on Thursday and took stock of the situation.

Bouri after interacting with the villagers who were seen crying and pleading for justice, launched a vicious attack on the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) led coalition government for appeasement policy and alleged that the demography of the Santhal region has changed in such a way that the Hindu community has been facing the brunt of Land and Love Jihad.

Earlier the delegation interacted with the residents of the village and assured them all assistance from their side. The BJP leaders also instructed the officials to arrange food for the residents while highlighting that the village market is on the other side of the border and villagers are reluctant to visit the market out of fear.

Addressing a gathering of the villagers, Bouri said that the administration should also clarify it that the other state is also a part of an independent country, it is not an international matter. If living in West Bengal is so difficult than one can only imagine the scale of atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh.

Come what may, as long as there is BJP we will not let this happen, we will not let Jharkhand become West Bengal, we are not going to run away from the land of our ancestors (Ye Mati Deko Jabo Na), said Bouri.

BJP slams ruling coalition

Later the BJP leader in a series of tweets posted on X also slammed the coalition government for doing politics of appeasement. “Gopinathpur is a living example for all of us. Today the people of Santhal Pargana are sitting on the pile of explosives and surprisingly neither the Chief Minister or ministers have uttered a single word”.

People are forced to migrate because of harassment from a particular community and this situation will worsen in the future. The way the demography of Santhal Pargana is being changed as a result of vote bank politics and appeasement of a particular class this will create a situation of distress for all the residents of the state including of Santhal. For the sake of few votes, JMM-Congress-RJD are turning their back on such a huge tragedy, History will never forget you, added Bouri.

JMM refutes allegations

Though refuting the allegations labelled by Bouri, national spokesperson of JMM and former minister, Hemlal Murmu said that the state government is sensitive and heedful on the incident of Gopinathpur.

I have talked with the Superintendent of Police who assured me that the situation is peaceful now and security personnel in adequate numbers are deployed in the area. I also requested him to open a permanent police picket in the village asserting that the government will approve it. Ration is being distributed within the residents and survey of damage is being done, we will also compensate the affected ones, the government is very sensitive on the matter and taking all the measures, said Murmu.

As far as the BJP is concerned who is making a hue and cry over Bangladeshi infiltrators, I want to say that after the formation of the state the BJP has ruled it more than half of the time, there was also a double engine government operating in the state previously so why didn’t they identified or deported a single infiltrator from the state, he added.

Attack on residents of Gopinathpur

It is to be noted that a scuffle broke out between the members of two communities after a resident of Gopinathpur village allegedly slaughtered a prohibited cattle on a piece of land belonging to the member of other community, prompting sharp reactions from the other group on June 17.

However, soon after the scuffle, an enraged mob from Krishtonagar area of the other side of the border barged into the Gopinathpur village by crossing a canal that separates the two state and launched an attack on the residents.

It was then reported that the mob, allegedly armed with country made guns, crude bombs and other weapons carried out vandalism in houses and resorted to stone pelting till police teams of both the states took control of the situation by arriving on the spot.

As of now a peace committee comprising of members of the local administration and representatives of both the sides has been formed in view of preventing any reoccurrence of the violence while the authorities are closely monitoring the situation amidst adequate deployment of security personnel.