Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has made the “infiltration” of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis the focus of its loud campaign for general elections in the eastern state of Jharkhand later this year. At a series of public meetings over about a week, Modi and his close aide Amit Shah, home minister, each amplified the infiltration issue in different ways. But some of Shah’s statements at one of the rallies triggered a sharp reaction from the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry.

Shah was perhaps not entirely unaware that his comments in Jharkhand could cause a stir in Bangladesh, just as his “termite” description of alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants did in the run-up to West Bengal’s general election more than three years ago.

It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who first raised the issue of infiltration at a rally in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, when he launched the state’s ruling coalition of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for demographic change in Santhal blamed Parganas and Kolhan for allegedly facilitating the infiltration of Rohingya and Bangladeshis. He said the infiltration of Bangladeshis and Rohingya posed a major threat to Jharkhand as it was “rapidly changing” the identity and demographics of the Santhal Pargana and Kolhan regions. After this, Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and senior leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan also highlighted the issue at their respective rallies.

Nadda, in his speech, accused the JMM-led alliance of patronizing the forces indulging in ‘love jihad’, ‘land jihad’ and ‘infiltration jihad’. Shah also said at a rally in Giridih, “If infiltration is not stopped, illegal immigrants will form the majority in Jharkhand in the next 25-30 years.” They marry our daughters, steal land and destroy the rich tribal culture.”

In return, the JMM and the Congress have claimed that the BJP needs to give a response to the manner of infiltration, if any, as protecting the international borders is the responsibility of the central government (BSF, which guards the border with Bangladesh) . They also accused the BJP of “playing Hindu-Muslim politics by stoking tensions ahead of the elections.”

BJP leader Asha Lakra, a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, had led a team from the commission to Jharkhand to investigate reports of infiltration in the state. She told The Hindu that her investigation had “confirmed that infiltration is taking place” and that she had documented alleged “evidence” of this in her 28-page report, which was largely based on anecdotal material from conversations with “neighbors, panchayat members and Villagers”. “The report has been submitted to the Interior Ministry, she said.

Why has the BJP made infiltration in Santhal Parganas and North Chotanagpur and Kolhan region in the southern part of the state the main target of its election campaign? Party leaders claim that the issue resonates with tribals in Santhal Pargana district of the state, which accounts for 18 of the 28 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Assembly, whose total strength including one nominated member is 82. The party, which currently has only four MLAs in Santhal Parganas, aims to increase the number against Jharkhand’s ruling alliance led by the regional organization Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by Hemant Soren, who inherited the political legacy of his father Shibu Soren has. The BJP hopes that its advocacy for the tribal cause in Jharkhand will resonate beyond the state’s borders. It is important to note that infiltration in West Bengal and Assam, where there has been an influx of undocumented Bangladeshis for decades, was a key electoral factor for the BJP.

The BJP has sought to make political capital out of a Jharkhand High Court order setting up an independent inquiry committee to probe the “infiltration of Bangladeshi immigrants” in Santhal Parganas. This was necessary due to the “conflicting” stands of the Center and the state on the issue, the court said. The court has been hearing a public interest litigation since 2022 regarding Bangladesh’s infiltration of the Santhal Pargana region. “The State denies the problem of infiltration while the data submitted, as noted in the order (August 8), shows a decline in the tribal population from 44.67% in 1951 to 28.11% in 1951 “This “Year 2011 reflects something different,” the court order said. “However, in none of these land-related cases were any links established with Bangladeshi immigrants,” said an affidavit from the Union Home Ministry. Welcoming the Jharkhand High Court’s direction to form a committee to probe infiltration from Bangladesh, Amit Shah said the Center will soon form a committee with the help of the Jharkhand government to probe the matter.

The Enforcement Directorate of the Anti-Money Laundering Agency of the Government of India has launched an investigation under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) into illegal immigration of Bangladeshis and Rohingya in Jharkhand, a section of Indian media reported. The ED’s briefing report on enforcement cases under the PMLA is based on an FIR of Ranchi Police registered in Bariyatu on June 6, but the ED will look into the bigger issues, including channeling of funds generated through infiltration into politics. The case is a first under the PMLA as the ED investigates the involvement of suspected human traffickers.

The Jharkhand police’s FIR relates to trafficking of six girls – Rohingyas and Bangladeshis – who were arrested in a raid. Subsequent investigations revealed that they had obtained identity papers and Aadhaar cards with Hindu names on the basis of forged documents arranged by traffickers from Kolkata. The ED has already collected details from other central agencies related to the operations of a syndicate that smuggles Bangladeshis and Rohingya through forests in Jharkhand. A network operating out of Kolkata is engaged in forging documents to help the suspected intruders pose as Indians from Bengal, sources said.

Pallab Bhattacharya is a special correspondent for The Daily Star. He writes from New Delhi, India.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

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