Are Bangladeshi infiltrators increasing or not, PM Modi asks crowd at Jharkhand rally

Alleging attempts to reduce the tribal population to a minority, he said the fight was not for power, but to protect the state’s “roti, beti, maati” (food, daughter, land).

Jharkhand Hindu, Adivasi numbers declining, that of infiltrators up: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being presented a turban in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, on Wednesday. (PTI)

4 min readRanchiOct 3, 2024 05:15 AM IST First published on: Oct 3, 2024 at 04:20 AM IST

ACCUSING THE ruling JMM-led coalition in Jharkhand of engaging in “dangerous vote-bank politics”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the population of Hindus and Adivasis was declining (“ghat ti hui abadi”), while that of “Bangladeshi infiltrators” was rapidly increasing.

Modi was addressing a rally in Hazaribagh to mark the conclusion of the BJP’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’, ahead of the Assembly elections due later this year.

Alleging attempts to reduce the tribal population to a minority, he said the fight was not for power, but to protect the state’s “roti, beti, maati” (food, daughter, land).

Targeting the JMM-Congress coalition, Modi said: “Today, JMM is being run by people who want to change the identity of Jharkhand, who want to destroy the centuries-old identity of Jharkhand. And their masters in the Congress want to make the Adivasi community a minority in Jharkhand. These people know that they have always cheated the Adivasi community and have never allowed them to come forward. That is why they are preparing their new vote bank in Jharkhand to remain in power. Jharkhand is being sacrificed in this game of vote bank.”

Saying that this was a dangerous (khatarnak) game, he cited the Santhal Pargana region as a “living proof”. “In Santhal Pargana, the tribal population is continuously decreasing, while the population of infiltrators is continuously increasing,” he said.

“Demography mein itna tej badlaav, Adivasiyon ki, Hinduon ki ghat ti hui abadi, main aapse poochta hoon, Jharkhand mein ye badlaav aap logon ko dikh raha hai, ki nahi dikh raha hai? Bangladeshi ghuspaithiyon ki sankhya teji se badhi hai, ki nahi badhi? (The huge change in demography, the declining population of Adivasis and Hindus, I ask you whether this change in Jharkhand is visible to you or not? Are the numbers of Bangladeshi infiltrators increasing rapidly or not?),” he asked.

He said the state government, however, was not ready to accept this. “Ghuspaithiyon yahan ke zameen par kabza kar rahe hain ki nahi? Jharkhand ki betiyan, Adivasi samaj ki betiyan, inke nishaane par hai ki nahi hai? Aap sab ko yeh khatra dikhta hai, aapko demography mein ye badlav dikhta hai, lekin Jharkhand sarkar ko ye nahi dikhta hai… Woh maanne ko taiyar hi nahi hai ki Jharkhand mein jansankhya santulan bigad raha hai, Adivasiyo ki abadi ghat rahi hai,” he said.

(The Bangladeshi infiltrators are occupying the land here or not? Are the daughters of Jharkhand, the daughters of the Adivasi community their target or not? You see this threat, you see this change in demography, but the Jharkhand government cannot see it… They are not ready to agree that the population balance in Jharkhand is getting worse, the Adivasi population is declining.)

Modi said that while even the High Court had expressed concern, the JMM government, in an affidavit to the court, denied any infiltration. “Will these people be able to protect the identity of Jharkhand,” he asked.

Modi also claimed that the state government was derailing the Centre’s efforts towards development of Jharkhand. “Today, the JMM government has become a hindrance in the development of Jharkhand… Can anyone imagine that the people who took tribal votes in the name of water, forest, land would loot openly like this,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Modi inaugurated various projects and also launched the “Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan”, which, he said, is expected to benefit 65,000 tribal-dominated villages across the country.