Jharkhand assembly adjourned till Tuesday amid ruckus over Bangladeshi 'infiltration'

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Assembly witnessed chaotic scenes on Monday as opposition BJP MLAs raised concerns over Bangladeshi infiltration and alleged 'atrocities' against tribals, leading to multiple adjournments until Tuesday.

As the session began at 11 am, BJP members stormed the well of the House, demanding government's response to the high court's directive to identify Bangladeshi infiltrators in the Santhal Parganas region and police's alleged atrocities on tribal students at a hostel in Pakur.

The initial uproar forced the first adjournment at 11:26 am until 12:30 pm. When the session resumed at 12:35 pm, chaos persisted, eventually leading to another adjournment at 12:40 pm, with the House scheduled to reconvene at 11 am the next day.

Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon managed to table a supplementary budget of Rs 4,833.39 crore for the financial year 2024-25 amidst the disruptions.

Women, Child Development and Social Security department was given the highest allocation of Rs 1,114.49 crore, followed by Rs 584.85 crore to School Education and Literacy Department (secondary education division).

Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto repeatedly appealed to BJP leaders to return to their seats and allow the House to function smoothly, but they continued their protests unabated.

Leader of the opposition, Amar Kumar Bauri, accused the government of not listening to the voice of people, claiming that lands of two tribals were allegedly grabbed by infiltrators in Pakur.

"When they raised their voices against land grabbing, they were beaten. The tribals are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dumka," he alleged.

Bauri said when Adivasi Chatra Sangh decided to protest against Bangladeshi infiltrators, police entered KKM College in Pakur and beat them.

Jharkhand High Court also directed the state government to identify the Bangladeshi infiltrators, he said.

"We want replies from the government as to what action has been taken following the High Court's order and against the police personnel who were involved in beating the tribal students," Bauri said.

In response to BJP's allegations, Poreyahat MLA Pradip Yadav accused the saffron party of attempting to divide Jharkhand similar to their strategies in Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress MLA Shilpi Neha Tirkey expressed concerns about national security, stating that if infiltrators are entering Jharkhand, it poses a threat to the entire country.

She questioned the role of the Home Ministry in addressing these issues and criticised BJP leaders for allegedly spreading misinformation about infiltrators marrying tribal women and abandoning them.

"They (BJP leaders) are pointing fingers at BSF and SSBs. What is the Home Ministry doing on the issue?" she asked.

JMM MLA Sudivya Kumar emphasised that preventing Bangladeshi infiltrators from entering Jharkhand is the responsibility of the Border Security Force (BSF).

"BJP is doing divisive politics in the name of Bangladeshi infiltrators and attempting to divide tribals in Jharkhand. The saffron party is responsible for demographic change by allowing outsiders to settle in the state. They are pushing the natives of Ranchi to the jungle by allowing outsiders to settle in the state capital," he said.

Over 15 people, including six police personnel, were injured in a clash between the law enforcers and tribal students in Pakur district on Friday night when a police team reached the KKM College campus for probing an abduction case.

It all started after a group of students from a tribal hostel on the college premises allegedly protested the entry of police into the campus, which later snowballed into a clash.

The state BJP had alleged that tribal students, who were scheduled to stage a protest rally against Bangladeshi infiltration in Maheshpur area of the district on Saturday, were beaten by police.