RANCHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, November 16 addressed a public meeting in the Dumka Assembly Constituency, where he lashed out at the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress for allegedly misleading the tribal community and protecting infiltrators.
Speaking on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Shah assured the tribal population that they would not be affected by its implementation. He said, “JMM and Congress are spreading rumours in Jharkhand that if UCC comes, tribals will face problems. Tribal brothers and sisters, don’t worry, you will not be included in UCC. You will not face any problem due to UCC.”
Taking a dig at Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Shah alleged, “When you were fighting for Jharkhand, you were showered with bullets and lathis. The Congress government did not give Jharkhand its rights, and today, to become the Chief Minister, Hemant has gone into the lap of the same Congress.”
Highlighting the government’s efforts to honour tribal icons, Shah spoke about the contributions of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. “Yesterday was the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda. A statue of Bhagwan Birsa Munda was installed at Sarai Kale Khan Chowk in Delhi, which Hemant Babu opposes,” he said.
The Home Minister added, “In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to celebrate the birth anniversary of Lord Birsa Munda as ‘Tribal Pride Day.’ Along with this, a committee is being formed under the chairmanship of Modi, and this committee will try to celebrate this entire year (150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda) as “Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh” (Tribal Pride Year).
The Union Minister also praised the BJP’s role in the formation of Jharkhand. “The work of creating Jharkhand was done by the great leader of BJP, our former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and now the work of improving Jharkhand is being done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, Shah said.
The BJP leader also urged the public to support the BJP to bring development and security to the state.
Shah accused the JMM and Congress of protecting infiltrators, which he claimed has led to a decline in tribal land and population. He said, “Once you form the BJP government in Jharkhand, we will work to throw out every single infiltrator from here.”
In a related development, BJP Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo too come down heavily on the current regime, alleging that the Jharkhand Government’s special branch provided documents and ID proofs to infiltrators and the interests of tribals at Santhal Pargana have been encroached.
Pratul Shah Deo said, “In this election, Santhal Pargana is very important. The manner in which the State Government’s special branch provided documents and ID proofs to infiltrators, they themselves admitted in a letter from June 2023 that infiltrators are provided accommodation in Madrasas and their ID documents are made. So, the encroachment into the interests of tribals here is the biggest issue.
He further claimed that the INDIA bloc would snatch the rights of tribals if they come to power.
“Now, the Congress’ Jharkhand in charge, Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that they would provide cylinders to infiltrators at Rs 450…This is treason. It clearly shows that they would snatch away the rights of Jharkhandis and tribals, and give the same to infiltrators,” he further said.
Voting for the first phase of the Jharkhand assembly elections concluded on November 13, with voting taking place in 43 out of the state’s 81 seats.
Elections on the remaining 38 seats will be conducted on November 20. The counting will be held on November 23. (ANI)
