As the state of Jharkhand is inching closer to the state assembly elections scheduled to be held in the later part of the year, the political galleries of the state is buzzing with heated exchange on various issues which are expected to take the central stage in the forthcoming elections.
One of the core issue among these pertains to the illegal infiltration of the Bangladeshi nationals in the state, especially in the Santhal Pargana division adjacent to the West Bengal border where a significant population of the tribal community also resides traditionally.
Recently, a fresh tug of war erupted between the ruling alliance led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Jharkhand High Court orders the state government to come up with a plan to identify and deport the illegal infiltrators from the Santhal Pargana.
This provided the BJP leaders a significant opportunity to encircle the incumbent government over appeasement policy and on the changing demographic of the Santhal region due to large scale cross border infiltration.
How grave is the threat of infiltration?
The mass infiltration of Bangladeshi intruders has been a long standing issue for various states governments and consecutive Union governments. It is estimated the crores of the Bangladeshi nationals who have infiltrated in Bharat through clandestine means are residing in various parts of the country.
To put them in estimated figures, the then Union Minister for state for home, Kiren Rijuju had informed the parliament in 2016 that around 20 million (2 crores) illegal Bangladeshi national are staying in India while adding that it is nearly impossible to have accurate data on Bangladeshi infiltrators as their entry in the country is clandestine and superstitious.
It is worth mentioning here that the abovementioned figures shared by the government strictly talks about the infiltration of the Bangladeshi national and it does not encompasses the mass infiltration of the Rohangiyas immigrants who have suspected to be infiltrated the country in large numbers in the past few years.
Most of the infiltration from the other side of the border appears to be in the five Indian states which cumulatively shares a 4095 kilometers border from Bangladesh including of over 1100 km of riverine. Among the thousand kilometers of the borders lies the districts of Murshidabad and Malda of West Bengal which are also adjacent to Sahibganj and Pakur district of Jharkhand an alleged hub for the Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Change of demography in Santhal Pargana region and emergence of Jamai Tola
Both these districts fall under the Santhal Pargana, an administrative division of the state which also encompasses other districts such as Godda, Dumka, Deoghar and Jamtara.
Interestingly, both Pakur and Sahibganj has a significant population of both the Tribal (26 and 42 per cent respectively) and the Muslim community (35 and 34 per cent respectively) where while the former has registered a dip in the overall percentage over the time the latter has witnessed a slight rise in Pakur district.
If reports are to believe, certain pockets of the region have undergone a swift change of demography most likely due to the continuous infiltration by the Bangladeshi nationals who are also reported to be indulged in activities like marrying and converting women of the tribal community with an ulterior motive to grasp their land.
It is being alleged that such are the numbers of Bangladeshi infiltrators marrying the girls of the tribal community with an aim to convert and occupy their land that they have reportedly managed to establish a number of Jamai Tola, an alleged locality where infiltrators are residing with the women of the tribal community after marrying them.
जानना चाहते हैं झारखंड में "लव जिहाद" की आड़ में "लैंड जिहाद" कैसे हो रहा है, देखिए तथ्य के साथ 📃
शौहर मुसलमान, बच्चे मुसलमान, पर बीवी चुनाव लड़ती है जनजातीय के नाम…
झारखंड में बहुत ही सोची-समझी साजिश के तहत मुसलमान लड़के जनजाति लड़कियों से विवाह कर रहे हैं। इन युवकों में… pic.twitter.com/uywA4neltj
— Amar Kumar Bauri (@amarbauri) July 8, 2024
Hearing on a petition about the same which also highlights the involvement of certain banned groups behind the surge of such cases, the Jharkhand high court has recently directed the officials of the state government to come up with a plan within two weeks to identify and deport the infiltrators.
The issue has been also aggressively highlighted by the opposition leaders who have alleged the JMM led coalition government to go soft on the infiltrators for the sake of appeasement politics.
Recently in a post shared on X, former Chief Minister of the state and incumbent president of BJP’s Jharkhand unit, Babulal Marandi had also expressed concern over the changing demography in the Santhal region.
The continuous decline in the tribal population and the unexpected increase in the Muslim population in the Santhal Pargana region is a warning signal, said Marandi while highlighting that the tribal population of the Pakur district of Santhal declined by 4 per cent between 2001 and 2011 alone.
संथाल परगना क्षेत्र में आदिवासियों की जनसंख्या निरंतर घटना एवं मुसलमानों की जनसंख्या में अप्रत्याशित वृद्धि खतरे की घंटी है।
2001 की जनगणना के दौरान संथाल परगना के पाकुड़ जिले में आदिवासियों की आबादी 46% थी, जो 2011 की जनगणना के अनुसार 4% घटकर महज 42% रह गई।
वहीं मुसलमानों की… pic.twitter.com/68wss79X49
— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) June 30, 2024
He further highlighted that the Muslim population of the district witnessed a jump of 3 per cent in the same time period. Marandi further asserted that it is imperative to review the reasons for unnatural change in the demography of Pakur and other districts such as Sahibganj adjacent to the border.
However, refuting the allegation made by Marandi the JMM in a statement posted on X said that China is continuously encroaching into the Indian border, infiltration from Bangladesh is on rise and the BJP is echoing that the state government should stop infiltration from Bangladesh, if we start doing this too then what will you do? Read a statement posted from the official handle of the party.
Will infiltration be a core issue in the assembly elections
Now as the order of the Jharkhand High Court has rejuvenated the ongoing tussle between the opposition and the ruling coalition over the issue of infiltration after they earlier collided and trained guns on each other instantly after the violence in Gopinathpur of Pakur on Bakrid, the issue of infiltration and changing demography is expected to take the central stage in the upcoming election especially in the Santhal region and adjoining areas.
Will build 'Namo Bhavan' for Hindus suffering harassment from Muslims! – @nishikant_dubey BJP MP from #Jharkhand
• Will implement NRC and drive out Bangladeshi infiltrators from Santhal Pargana!
👉 Along with building a shelter for Hindus oppressed by Mu$l!ms, a situation must… pic.twitter.com/9BMWdNOTwP
— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) July 6, 2024
Dropping hints about the same, senior BJP leader from the state, Amar Kumar Bauri who is also the LoP in the Jharkhand state assembly has recently remarked that “Demography is changing briskly in the Santhal region and the Bangladeshi are occupying the land by creating Jamai Para, If Hindus become a minority, neither the constitution nor democracy will survive, the assembly election will be fought on the issue of saving the “Roti, Beti and Mati” (Bread, Daughters and Land).
Bauri’s sentiments on the issue was also echoed by BJP Member of the Parliament (MP) from Godda, Nishikant Dubey who while thanking the high court for the recent directives asserted that the BJP will enact a law to stop the systematic occupation of land by the infiltrators if voted to power.
To conclude it appears that other than the serious allegations of corruption that has been highlighted aggressively by the opposition BJP lately, the assembly election campaign of the party led by Marandi will resolve around issue of infiltrations. Through which the party would aim to strengthen its presence in the tribal dominated areas, where the JMM led coalition has performed exceptionally well in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls while banking on the issue of tribal identity.
