Jharkhand: Months after DCs of Santhal denied infiltration, intelligence dept’s letter warning about the same emerges

RANCHI: Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Babu Lal Marandi has raised serious concerns over the state government and administration’s attitude in dealing with the illegal infiltration issue in the state.

Sharing a letter of the state intelligence department linked with illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals, Marandi has pointed fingers on the submission made by the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of all the district of Santhal division before the high court that no infiltration has taken place in Santhal Pargana (division) of Jharkhand.

According to the details of the letter issued in June last year, the intelligence department (special branch) of the state government had warned the senior police officials and DCs about the illegal infiltrators taking shelters in several madrassas of the Santhal Pargana.

The special branch in the letter had further talked about the inclusion of the infiltrator’s name in the voters list along with the arrangements made to settle them by providing them with other essential government documents.

“Information has been received regarding entry of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators in Santhal Pargana of Jharkhand. They are being first lodged at several madrasas of Santhal and then their government documents are being prepared along including their names in the voters list to settle them under a ploy which is a threat to the internal system of the state,” read the letter issued by the special branch.

2 जून, 2023 को राज्य सरकार के खुफिया विभाग ने सभी जिलों के उपायुक्तों और पुलिस अधीक्षकों को पत्र लिखकर स्वीकार किया था कि बांग्लादेशी घुसपैठियों को संथाल परगना के कई मदरसों में पनाह दी जाती है। इन ठिकानों में उनके पहचान पत्र और अन्य दस्तावेज तैयार किए जाते हैं। खुफिया विभाग… pic.twitter.com/ly6WZrrXWi

— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) October 27, 2024

The disclosure of the details mentioned in the letter has now stormed the already charged up political galleries of the state, triggering reactions from the BJP top leadership who have been long accusing the Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s led government for going soft on the illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators for the sake of appeasement policy.

Slamming the administration’s inaction over the information provided by the intelligence department, Marandi in a long post on social media said that “Despite sensitive information shared by the intelligence department no action was taken against the infiltrators”.

The BJP leader also called out the DCs for submitting false affidavit before the high court, stating that no infiltration has occurred in their respective districts.

“The honorable high court had termed infiltration a grave threat to Jharkhand and had soughed a report from the state government. Though despite being informed by the special branch, the DCs of all the six districts of Santhal Pargana filed a false affidavit, stating that no infiltration has occurred in their respective districts. The court further ordered to constitute an independent fact finding committee to deal with the infiltration issue but the state government moved to Supreme Court against it,” said Marandi.

The unprecedented rise in number of Muslim voters at polling booths of Santhal, the illegally settled Jamai Tola (a term given to a colony where outsiders are settled with women of the tribal community after marrying them), the ongoing encroachment of tribal lands are screaming testimonies to infiltration. In such the question arises that under whose pressure did the DCs lied? Under whose pressure the high court was misled? Questioned Marandi.

The reality is that Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress is trying to wipe out the tribals at every level. The entire government machinery of the Hemant Soren government is indulged in plotting against the tribal society and activities related to providing shelter to the infiltrators. The existence of the tribal society is in grave danger due to infiltration, added Marandi while making an appeal to unite in driving out infiltrators from Jharkhand along exposing their patrons.

Read more at: Infiltrators entrapping tribals with debt trap, marrying women of the community to hijack power, says report……

Tug of war over infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals in Santhal

It is pertinent to mention here that the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration has been at the forefront of political strife between the two major political streams of the state lately i.e. the NDA and the ruling coalition led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), where while the former has been continuously linking with it to the appeasement policy of the incumbent government, the latter has time and again downplayed the allegations, terming it a bid to promote polarisation of votes.

Though amidst the political accusations, the figures pertaining to respective census between 1951 to 2011 vividly indicates a sharp decline in percentage of tribal community in overall population of Santhal, an administrative division of the state encompassing Deoghar, Godda, Dumka, Jmatara, Sahibaganj and Pakur districts.

The figures suggest that the tribal community had a share of 44.67% in the overall population of the Santhal division in the year 1951 which reduced to 28.11 % in the year 2011. Though, in the same period the percentage of the Muslim community in population of the Santhal region rose from 9.44% to 22.73%.

The region is suspected to have a large concentration of illegal Bangladeshis infiltrators who have been reportedly forcing their way in Jharkhand through bordering districts adjacent to Murshidabad and Malda which are in turn adjacent to Bangladesh border on the other side.

Petition against illegal infiltration in Santhal Pargana

Notably, a petition was filed before the Jharkhand high court by petitioner Danial Danish, who claimed that a surge has been noted in emergence of madrasas in the Santhal region along incidents linked to illegal infiltrators exploiting local women of Scheduled Tribes (ST) community by occupying their lands through means of conversion and marriages.

The petition further had underscored the possible involvement of certain banned Bangladeshi groups behind the surge in such cases. The court after hearing on the plea had issued directives to the state and the Union governments to fetch an action plan for identification and deportation of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from the state on July 3. The court had also instructed the DCs of all the district under the Santhal division to come up with an action plan to prevent illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators from entering the state.

State government submission before the High Court

Weeks after the directives of the court, the state government in an affidavit filed before the high court in August had submitted that no infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals has been registered in Santhal division. The submission made by the DCs however attracted critical response from the high court’s bench.

A high court bench while expressing their bewilderment over the government’s submission had also warned of contempt cases against the officials, if the declaration made by them turned out to be untrue.

Union Government consolidated report

Meanwhile, the Union government too filed a consolidated report before the Jharkhand high court, submitting that the population of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Santhal region has reduced by 16 per cent as compared to the year 1951.

The reply further noted that the Christian population of the area has increased by 6000 times in the corresponding period while the six districts of the division have witnessed an increase of Muslim population by 20 to 40 per cent in certain pockets.

Following the submission of replies, the court in its verdict announced in September directed both the state and the union government to form a fact finding committee to identify illegal infiltration in Jharkhand. Though while the union government submitted it is willing to comply with the court order, the state government on the other hand filed a SLP before the apex court against the high court’s direction.

Significantly, the tribal dominated state of Jharkhand is all set to hold assembly elections on 13th and 20th of the next month, while the counting of votes is scheduled for November 23. The issue of illegal infiltration in all likelihood is expected to take a central stage in tribal dominated pockets, particularly in Santhal which has also witnessed incidents of communal nature recently.