Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants living in Jharkhand: Central govt tells HC

Ranchi: The central government on Thursday informed the Jharkhand High Court that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are living in the state.

In an affidavit filed before a division bench of acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai, the Centre said Bangladeshis illegally entered Jharkhand through Sahebgunj and Pakur districts.

The affidavit also mentioned the transfer of tribal land to Muslims by virtue of 'daanpatra (gift deed)'.

There is also a "sizeable decrease" in the tribal population due to "high conversion of tribals and low birth rate" among them, it said.

According to the affidavit filed by Pratap Singh Rawat, who is posted as an undersecretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the outward migration of tribals from the Santhal Parganas is also a reason for the reduced number of indigenous people.

There has been a "sizeable increase" in the number of madrasas in Sahebgunj and Pakur in the past couple of years, it said, adding that the "infiltrators share the same local dialect which has eased their transgression in the state".

The affidavit also mentioned the presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam.

India shares a 4096.7-km border with Bangladesh and is very porous making infiltration very easy, Rawat said in the affidavit.

The court was hearing a PIL on the conversion of tribals in the Santhal Parganas filed by Soma Oraon and another PIL filed by Daniel Danish on the illegal immigration of Bangladeshis.

The next hearing of the matter will be held on September 17.

In her petition, Oraon claimed that tribals in the Santhal Parganas were being converted to other religions.

The tribals have been lured to convert to different religions in a planned manner, she said.

Danish claimed that illegal immigrants started purchasing land and made false documents to establish that they were residents of the state.