A closer look at issues PM Modi flagged in Jharkhand: ‘infiltrators’ threat to tribals, love jihad, Friday off’

What were the key issues PM Modi raised to slam JMM?

Going after the JMM, which is part of the Opposition INDIA alliance, PM Modi told the Dumka rally that the population of tribals was declining in the state, especially in the Santhal Pargana, while that of the “ghuspetiyon” (infiltrators) was on the rise and posed a threat to “the lives and security of our daughters”.

Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

Prof Jyoti Prakash, Assistant Professor of Economics in Ranchi University, who has published a research paper, “A post independence demographic study of tribal population of Jharkhand” told The Indian Express: “In absolute numbers, the tribal population is increasing in Jharkhand. However, when seen in context of non-tribal population, their share in population is decreasing. It means that the tribal population share vis-a-vis non-tribals has decreased from 37% in 1951 to 26% in 2011 due to their migration in search of jobs and displacement among other factors.”

PM Narendra Modi in Dumka district on May 28. (PTI)

As regards the claim that infiltrators have been allowed to settle in Jharkhand, a state government source said: “The police special branch had conducted a survey some years ago, which said there were indeed infiltrators. It has not been made public. However, if people have come and settled in Jharkhand, they are from West Bengal rather than Bangladesh. Also, whose job is it to protect the borders? Isn’t it under the purview of the Central government?”

However, the state BJP alleges that the JMM government was “providing legitimate identity to infiltrators from Bangladesh” in Pakur district and that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be implemented in the state.

What were the cases that BJP raked up to level “love jihad” allegation?

There were killings of a few girls in the state in 2022 that the BJP alleged were “love jihad cases”, a charge rejected by the JMM government.

On December 16, 2022, Rebeca Paharin, 22, who belonged to the Paharia community,was murdered allegedly by the family of her partner, Dildar Ansari. They were residents of Sahibganj district.

Police said Ansari’s mother Mariam Nisha was not happy with Rebeca being part of their family because she was a Christian tribal while they were Muslims, and since Rebeca had a child from an earlier relationship. When Dildar insisted on continuing his relationship with Rebeca, his mother allegedly got her brothers to “eliminate” her.

Earlier the same year, a minor girl from Dumka district was set on fire by a man. The girl succumbed to her injuries a few days later. Police said one Shahrukh Hussain, 19, had allegedly been harassing the minor for “some time”. Her death led to the BJP going after the JMM dispensation, with state BJP chief Babulal Marandi alleging that Shahrukh Hussain’s family had settled illegally in Dumka. This led to the district administration holding an inquiry leading to a finding that his family actually held their land title dating back to 1932.

In another incident in 2022, a 14-year-old tribal girl was allegedly raped. Her body was found hanging from a tree. Police had arrested an accused Arman Ansari in this connection.

What was the issue of Friday off day instead of Sunday in a Jharkhand district that the PM referred to?

In his Dumka speech, PM Modi said : “Hamare desh mein ravivar ki chutti hoti hai, jab angrez raj karte thhay, isai samaj Sunday ko holiday maante thhay…ye chutti Hinduon se juda nahi… Ab unhone ek zile mein ravivar ki chutti mein taale laga diya, ab shukravar ko chutti hogi. Pehle Hinduon se jhagda, ab isaiyon se jhagda, ye kya chal raha hai (In our country, Sunday is an off day because when the British used to rule, the Christian community considered it a holiday… This is not linked to Hindus… Now, they (INDIA bloc) have declared Friday as a holiday instead of Sunday in one of the districts. First, they fight with Hindus, now with Christians. What is going on?).”

He was referring to a move for Friday weekly off in a section of schools in Jamtara, which was however scrapped in July 2022.

Sources in the government said: “The weekly holiday on Friday instead of Sunday in government schools in some Muslim-dominated areas in Jamtara has been a legacy issue, which had been in practice for many years, including 2014-19 during the BJP regime. When a controversy erupted over it in April 2022, when 43 government schools in Jamtara were found to be giving their weekly offs on Friday.”

The then state education minister Jagarnath Mahato then ordered a probe into it. Sources said: “This inquiry found that the headmasters of these schools, who were in the School Management Committees (SMCs), took this decision under the pressure of locals. Subsequently, in July 2022, these SMCs were dissolved and Sunday was reinstated as a weekly off.”

Why PM accused JMM of practising “communal appeasement”?

The PM’s framing of the issue of alleged Muslim appeasement at the expense of Christians by raking up the Friday weekly off row underlines the tightrope the BJP under his leadership is trying to walk, especially vis-a-vis its articulation for minority audiences.

The Sangh Parivar has traditionally railed against the Christian missionaries, accusing them of carrying out religious conversions. Under the Modi regime, licences of many NGOs that carry out Christian missionary activity have been scrapped under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

The RSS’s tribal wing, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA), has been working in tribal belts of the country for decades. The organisation works with the avowed objective to bring tribals into the larger Hindu fold against alleged conversion by Christian missionaries. In the past few years, some groups linked with the RSS have also launched a campaign to delist tribals who became Christian from the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs), with an aim to deny them reservations.

Around Christmas last December, the RSS-linked Janjati Suraksha Manch brought together tribal communities in Jharkhand and Tripura in two separate rallies held in Ranchi and Agartala, demanding the delisting of converted tribals from the ST list.

At the same time, the BJP has been wooing Christians as compared to Muslims. PM Modi, at an event at his residence on Lok Kalyan Marg, reached out to the Christian community on Christmas last year, where he said he had a longstanding relationship with the community and praised their work in education and healthcare. BJP chief J P Nadda followed up by stating that the life of Jesus Christ and his sacrifices were a source of inspiration.

In 2014, following Modi’s election as the PM, the national capital witnessed a series of attacks on churches in December, even as the Sangh Parivar launched an aggressive “ghar wapsi” campaign.

In February 2015, Modi addressed a gathering of Christians at Vigyan Bhawan, at a function to celebrate the sainthood of Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Euphrasia, and told the gathering, “My government will not allow any religious group, belonging to the majority or the minority, to incite hatred against others, overtly or covertly. Mine will be a government that gives equal respect to all religions.”

Sources said this measured approach, vis-a-vis the Sangh’s, is informed by the BJP’s electoral ambitions in states such as Kerala and the Northeast, which have sizeable Christian populations. In Goa, the BJP has ruled for several years with the support of various Christian groups, while in the Northeast, the Christian leaders have held various key positions in the BJP regimes.

In a recent interview to Asianet News, Modi said, “Christian leaders, bishops meet me 5-6 times a year. I too celebrate Christmas.”