Jharkhand HC directs fact-finding committee on infiltration in Santhal Parganas

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court ordered the constitution of a fact-finding committee comprising central and state officers to furnish a report on the allegation of cross-border infiltration in Jharkhand and its impact on the local population.

The direction was given by a division bench of justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Arun Kumar Rai while hearing a petition, which alleged that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were entering Jharkhand through the porous borders in the Santhal Parganas region and affecting the indigenous population.

"It cannot be disputed that the State of Jharkhand was created by the Central legislation on November 15 2000 based on the fact that the majority of the population of Jharkhand is tribal," the court said.

"There is no denying that the problem of decline in the demography of the tribal population is currently affecting the population matrix of Jharkhand," it added.

Ordering the constitution of the fact-finding committee, the court said its purpose is to provide the reasons for infiltration as it is happening on the ground and its effect on the population.

"This is the first step in the direction of curative measures that could be undertaken in all sensibilities to understand the magnitude of the problem that we are facing," the bench said in its 32-page order.

In the petition, it was alleged that illegal immigrants were settling in Sahibganj, Pakur, Godda, Jamtara and Dumka districts that form the Santhal Parganas region.

They are setting up madrasas in these five districts, and are disturbing the existence of the local tribal populace, the petition claimed.

The Centre had earlier filed an affidavit, stating the presence of illegal immigrants in Pakur and Sahibganj, and had proposed a high-level fact-finding committee with Union home secretary and chief secretary of the state as its key members.