The Jharkhand assembly witnessed a din on Monday, with almost the entire first half being washed out as opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs raised concerns over Bangladeshi infiltration and alleged ‘atrocities’ against tribals, leading to multiple adjournments until Tuesday.
Soon after the session began at around 11:10 am, BJP members trooped into the well of the House, demanding the 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 last week.
The initial uproar forced the first adjournment at 11:26 am until 12:30 pm after the opposition MLAs refused to return to their seats despite the Speaker’s request to allow the house to function as it was the last session of the fifth assembly.
When the session resumed at 12:35 pm, chaos persisted, as even the treasury bench members stormed into the well over Nishikant Dubey’s demand for a union territory, eventually leading to another adjournment at 12:40 pm, with the House scheduled to reconvene at 11 am on Tuesday.
Raising the issue of alleged infiltration and police atrocities against tribals, the Leader of the Opposition, Amar Kumar Bauri, accused the government of not listening to the voice of the people, claiming that the lands of two tribals were allegedly grabbed by infiltrators in Pakur.
{{/usCountry}}Raising the issue of alleged infiltration and police atrocities against tribals, the Leader of the Opposition, Amar Kumar Bauri, accused the government of not listening to the voice of the people, claiming that the lands of two tribals were allegedly grabbed by infiltrators in Pakur.
{{/usCountry}}“Infiltrators have grabbed the land of Hopni Marandi and Jambram Hembrom. When they raised their voices against land grabbing, they were beaten. The tribals are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dumka. Adivasi Chatra Sangh decided to protest against Bangladeshi infiltrators, police entered KKM College in Pakur and beat them only to stop their protest as the pro-tribal claims of this government would have been exposed,” said Bauri.
“The Jharkhand high court also directed the state government to identify the Bangladeshi infiltrators. 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.”
The House had to be adjourned as BJP MLAs again created a din when the Speaker went ahead with the day’s business without any reply from the government.
Over a dozen people, including 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 an investigation into an abduction case. A group of students from a tribal hostel on the college premises allegedly protested the entry of police into the campus, which snowballed into a clash.
The state BJP has alleged that tribal students, who were scheduled to stage a protest rally against Bangladeshi infiltration in the Maheshpur area of the district on Saturday, were brutally beaten up by police.
In response to the BJP’s allegations in the House, Poreyahat MLA Pradeep Yadav accused the saffron party of attempting to divide Jharkhand similarly to their strategies in Jammu and Kashmir. “Since they have nothing to raise, they are back with their divisive agenda and are planning to break Jharkhand the way they divided Jammu & Kashmir,” he said.
Congress MLA Shilpi Neha Tirkey expressed concerns about national security, stating that if infiltrators enter Jharkhand, it poses a threat to the entire country.
“They (BJP leaders) are pointing fingers at BSF, SPs, and SSBs. What is the Union home ministry doing on the issue? It’s also shameful that they are spreading misinformation about infiltrators marrying tribal women, bearing children, and abandoning them. This is an insult to tribal women,” she said.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Sudivya Kumar emphasised that preventing Bangladeshi infiltrators from entering Jharkhand is the responsibility of the Border Security Force (BSF). “And what about the Baharis (outsiders) who have settled in Ranchi and other cities? They (BJP) are settling outsiders in the cities and winning due to their votes,” added Kumar.
Meanwhile, amidst the prevailing din, finance minister Rameshwar Oraon tabled the government’s first supplementary budget of this financial year of ₹4,834 crores. The assembly is scheduled to discuss it on Tuesday.