Infiltration in Santhal Pargana: Centre to Jharkhand High Court

• The Union government has informed the Jharkhand High Court that “infiltration” has occurred in the Santhal Pargana region through Sahibganj and Pakur districts.
• The government’s support to check this has been less than expected.
• The Union government responded to a 2022 public interest litigation plea by a Bharatiya Janata Party worker in Jharkhand, claiming that the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population in Santhal Pargana was reducing due to “illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh” settling in the area and marrying into ST families to gain land and influence.
• The Centre supported population data on STs submitted by some petitioners, stating that the share of STs in Santhal Pargana’s population was 44.67% in 1951 and 28.11% in 2011.
• The Centre also cited instances where “loopholes” in existing laws have been “misused” to get land transferred from tribals to non-tribals.
• The Jharkhand High Court is now mulliing the formation of a fact-finding committee to study the demographic changes.
• The BJP has used the Centre’s affidavit to continue linking the demographic changes in Santhal Pargana to “infiltration” from Bangladesh, with prominent leaders like Godda MP Nishikant Dubey and Leader of the Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly, Amar Kumar Bauri, making statements on it.
• The Centre has informed the Jharkhand government about “145 overstaying foreigners” and flagged “205 other potential cases in 2021”, expecting the State government to probe the citizenship of these individuals.