Growing number of Bangladeshis in Santhal area alarming, Centre tells Jharkhand HC

Ranchi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Centre on Thursday told the Jharkhand High Court that the growing presence of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Santhal Pargana area of the tribal state is alarming.

Appearing for the Centre as the High Court took up a PIL on the issue, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who joined the court proceedings virtually, said that the demography of the area is changing due to infiltration from Bangladesh. The decline in the percentage of tribal population is a serious issue, he said.

He said, Infiltrators can enter other states also through Jharkhand and affect the population there. The central government will soon file a comprehensive reply in the court after consultation with all stakeholders -- IB and the BSF.

Accepting his request, the division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice A.K. Rai has fixed the next hearing on September 12.

The Solicitor General of India urged the court to remove the IB from the list of respondents in this case, as it has many confidential information which cannot be made public. Then the court asked the central government to file an application.

In its earlier hearing on August 22, the court expressed displeasure over the non-filing of reply by the Centre, Intelligence Bureau, UIDAI and the BSF. The state government was ordered to identify the infiltrators with the help of Special Branch. The Deputy Commissioners of all the six districts of Santhal Pargana division were also asked not to issue Aadhaar cards, ration cards, voter cards, BPL cards without matching them with the land records. The court had also observed that it cannot be said that the documents procured on the basis of ration cards, voter cards or Aadhaar cards were legitimate. Owing to this, people are also being deprived of their rights in the public welfare schemes of the state government.

This PIL, filed by Jamshedpur resident Daniel Danish, says that Bangladeshi intruders are infiltrating in Jharkhand from border areas like Jamtara, Pakur, Godda, Sahibganj etc. This is having an egregious effect on the population of these districts. A large number of madrasas have also been established there. Bangladeshi migrants are even marrying local tribals.

According to the data presented before the High Court citing the National Census, the tribal population in Santhal Pargana region has decreased from 44.67 per cent in 1951 to 28.11 per cent in 2011. A major reason behind this is Bangladeshi infiltration. If this trend continues, the situation will further aggravate, the Centre said.

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