Identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Jharkhand High Court tells State government
The Bench described illegal immigration as a “dangerous proposition” and a matter of “significant concern” for both the State and the Central governments
A Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai directed the government while hearing a PIL filed by Daniel Danish on illegal immigration. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday (August 13, 2024) issued a directive to the Hemant Soren government to identifyillegal immigrants from Bangladesh residing in the Santhal Parganas region of the State.
A Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai directed the government while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Daniel Danish on illegal immigration.
The alleged change in demography has become a contentious issue in Jharkhand and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is continuously raising the issue of ‘Bangladeshi infiltration’. Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about it at a rally in Ranchi and said if the BJP comes to power, it will issue a white paper on demography.
The Court has asked the government to initiate a comprehensive campaign to distinguish the original residents and illegal immigrants in the area. The Bench instructed that essential documents, such as ration cards, Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards, should be issued only after thorough verification of required documents.
Illegal immigration was described by the Bench as a “dangerous proposition” and a matter of significant concern for both the State and the Central governments. The Court expressed urgency in addressing the issue to prevent any further demographic and social imbalance.
During the hearing, the petitioner, Mr. Danish, highlighted that illegal immigrants have settled across six districts within the Santhal Parganas — Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, Pakur, Godda and Jamtara. He presented statistics showing a significant demographic shift over several decades with the tribal population percentage going down from 44.67% in 1951 to 28.11% in 2011, while the minority community’s percentage increased from 9.44% to 22.73% during the same period.
The next hearing in the case will be held on August 22.
Godda MP Nishikant Dubey on Tuesday said that the Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act is being openly violated in Santhal Pargana and Bangladeshi infiltrators are taking advantage of this.
“If BJP forms the government in Jharkhand, then the illegal occupation of tribal land will be demolished. Bangladeshi intruders are taking advantage of the silence of the government. Today the situation has become such that the land of the tribals is being taken and their families are being attacked. Women are being beaten up and no action is taken against such incidents,” Mr. Dubey said.
He demanded that the State officials should conduct a door-to-door survey to find out how illegal people are getting electricity and gas connections and inquire about their origins and check their land records.
Mr. Dubey said if the survey is not conducted, then in the coming days, the tribals will become “victims of displacement” and will not be seen “the way tribals have disappeared from the islands of Andaman and Nicobar.”
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