‘Infiltration assessed to have taken place’ in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana: Centre to HC
The Union home ministry clarified that it had not established ‘linkages to Bangladesh immigrants in land related cases’ in the Adivasi-dominated region.
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The Centre told the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday that “infiltration is assessed to have taken place” in the state through the Sahibganj and Pakur districts, and that support from the Jharkhand government in addressing the issue had “been less than expected”, reported The Hindu.
The submission was made in connection with a 2022 public interest litigation filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party worker in the state.
The plea claimed that the proportion of Scheduled Tribes in the population of the state’s Santhal Pargana division was declining due to “illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh” who were marrying into Adivasi families to acquire land and influence.
A Scroll investigation has found such claims to be false. The controversy is playing out as the state prepares to hold an Assembly election later this year. The BJP is seeking to defeat the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress coalition, which came to power in 2019.
Against this backdrop, some have sought to stoke communal sentiments. An anonymous list that was recently circulated on messaging platform WhatsApp accused the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha of “appeasing its vote bank” – a veiled reference to Muslims – and in the process, endangering the state’s Adivasis.
The affidavit submitted to the High Court, through an undersecretary of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, endorsed the petitioner’s claim...
