A massive row has erupted in the poll-bound state of Jharkhand over the police crackdown on the students who were protesting (Aakrosh Rally) against the illegal infiltration of Bangladeshis in the bordering areas of Santhal division on Saturday, July 27.
The crackdown which resulted in injuries to around a dozen students of Kumar Kalidas Memorial (KKM) college’s tribal hostel in the intervening night of July 26-27 has now stirred a major political row where the prime opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been alleging the incumbent state government for forcibly suppressing tribal voices for the sake of appeasement politics.
Reacting sharply to the incident, state president of Jharkhand BJP and former Chief minister of the state, Babulal Marandi while launching an attack on the incumbent ruling alliance said “that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress are running an indiscriminate assault campaign”.
He further remarked that under the said campaign innocent tribal students sleeping in the hostel are first chased and beaten on the orders of Chief Minister and then an FIR is lodged against the students who were left bleeding.
Marandi attack comes hours before he along with other BJP leaders protested against the incident during the ongoing monsoon session of the state assembly on Monday, July 29 where the BJP leaders were seen displaying placards against the incumbent government on the issue of illegal Bangladeshi infiltration.
सावधान!!
जेएमएम और कांग्रेस की सरकार चला रही है
अंधाधुंध पिटाई अभियान…इस अभियान के तहत
मुख्यमंत्री @HemantSorenJMM के आदेश पर निर्दोष सो रहे आदिवासी छात्रों को हॉस्टल में घुसकर पहले दौड़ा दौड़ा कर पीटा जाता है, फिर लहूलुहान छोड़कर उन पर ही एफ़आईआर किया जाता है।@BJP4India… pic.twitter.com/u5wkFMECkk— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) July 28, 2024
Sharing pictures of the protest, Amar Kumar Bauri, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Jharkhand assembly who also aggressively highlighted the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators in the State assembly at length, in a post on X said that “raising voice against the Bangladeshi infiltrators and to protect our sisters and daughters is a sin in Jharkhand”.
Why were only tribal hostels and tribal students targeted? What investigation did the police do at the tribal hostel at 1.00 am in the night? What was the threat from the tribal students that they could not wait till morning? What was the intention of JMM-Congress- RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) behind this well-planned attack on the students, questioned Bauri while emphasising that the ruling alliance is betraying the future of Jharkhand and its tribal and History will never forgive them.
Police crackdown in the tribal hostel before protest march
Notably, student bodies of tribal youths had announced to hit the streets against the growing infiltration of Bangladeshi intruders and emergence of illegal settlements at rapid pace in the bordering town of Pakud district of Santhal division on Saturday, July 27.
However, hours before the said protest march the local police launched a harsh crackdown in the tribal hostel of KKM college leading to injuries of around a dozen students and a few policemen.
According to the police, the crackdown was launched following the police traced location of a mobile number linked to an abduction case near the said hostel following which a police team visited the hostel premise.
However, during the course of investigation a few students allegedly launched an assault on policemen leading to a small skirmish between the police personnel and the students.
Meanwhile, contrary to the claims of the police, the students have alleged that initially a few policemen visited the hostel and asked them not to participate in the upcoming “Aakrosh Rally” to which the students refused after which around 100 policemen barged into the hostel premises past midnight and assaulted the students leaving a number of them injured badly.
The police action in the hostel sparked an outrage among the students who took out a large protest march on the next morning demanding immediate action against the unfair action of the police.
The incident also prompted protest from the BJP’s youth wing, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha who staged an impressive protest against the police action on the tribal students. Significantly, the former MLA of Pakud and JMM leader, Lobin Hembram also interacted with the students and demanded a fair inquiry into the case.
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes seeks report within three days
Meanwhile taking cognizance of the media reports linked to the incident, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has now soughed a detailed report of the case.
The commission while issuing notices to the Chief secretary of the State, L. Khinagte, Director General of Police, Jharkhand, Anurag Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Pakud, Mritunjay Kumar Barnwal and Superintendent of Police (Sp) Pakud, Prabhat Kumar has instructed to submit a report on to the matter within three days.
This comes amidst the Pakud Sp, Prabhat Kumar ordered line attaching of town police station in-charge Raushan Kumar Bhengra and Sub-inspector, Nagendra Kumar. The development occurred after the Pakud Sp formed a special police team led by circle officer and other officials to enquire about the case.
Anger among local tribals against rapid infiltration & forceful occupation of lands
It must be noted that the bordering district of Pakud has witnessed back to back communal scuffles lately attracting deployment of police personnel to restore the law and order. The first of the recent incidents unfolded on the occasion of Ed-Ul Azha when a man allegedly slaughtered a cow progeny in a piece of land belonging to the other community creating tension among the two groups.
Read more at: Discomfort growing in “Santhal” amidst augmenting change in demography
The incident prompted a mob of men from the other side of Jharkhand border crossing a canal and launching an attack on the residents of Gopinathpur leading to vandalism and arson.
This was followed by another incident in Taranagr Ilami village where the two groups indulged in stone pelting after a youth allegedly tried to make a video of one of the girls of the locality viral on social media.
सुनिए पाकुड़ में हो रहे Demography परिवर्तन पर क्या कहा वहां के स्थानीय आदिवासी PhD छात्र ने …
यही हाल पूरे संथाल परगना का है …
_______________________@himantabiswa | @ChouhanShivraj | @LKBajpaiBJP | @yourBabulal | @BJP4Jharkhand pic.twitter.com/mLiqFtb0fH
— Amar Kumar Bauri (@amarbauri) July 27, 2024
In another incident a group of people launched an attack on the local tribal people in Gaybathan Panchayat over a dispute on a piece of land on July 18. The altercation led to police registering a case and naming 18 individuals from both the groups.
These incidents backed up by rapid emergence of alleged illegal settlements has now reported to have triggered a sense of insecurity among the local tribal population who are fearsome of losing their ancestral lands along with their culture and unique identity to the illegal intruders more significantly.
The concern of the tribal community has also been emboldened by the figures of respective census of the central government after independence, which suggests a significant growth of Muslim population in the bordering districts of the state over the years while a continuous dip in the population of tribal community (From 44 per cent to 28 per cent) in the same period of time.
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