BJP will throw Bangladeshis out of India: Amit Shah

Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the BJP will free Jharkhand of "Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators" and hang them "upside down", says The Hindu.

"Due to fear of losing their vote bank, the JMM, RJD and Congress do not stop infiltration. If you change the government of Jharkhand, I promise that the BJP will send out all the Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators from Jharkhand, one by one," he said.

These comments come at a time when Bangladeshi ministers are expected to meet with their Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the UNGA.

Shah said changing the Chief Minister or bringing the BJP government in place of the JMM-Congress-RJD combine is not the motive of the election. Voters have to "remove the corrupt government" and bring in a government that will "stop corruption".

"The change has to be brought by removing the government that is destroying the tribal girls and their culture through intruders. My tribal brothers and sisters go to different parts of the country for employment. Instead of this, a government which brings employment to Santhal Pargana has to be brought in. We do not just want to change the Chief Minister, we want to change Jharkhand,"  Shah said.

Lashing out at the State government, Shah said that Jharkhand was created by BJP Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for tribals, but Hemant Soren's government has propagated "infiltrator welfare" instead of tribal welfare.

"Today, slogans like 'Hindus and tribals leave Jharkhand' are raised in Pakur district. Only Narendra Modi and the BJP can save this land of the tribals. In our State, the number of infiltrators is increasing in place of tribals, we have to stop this," he said.

Shah said earlier, the population of tribals in the Santhal Pargana was 44%, "but now it has come down to 28%". "You people should form a BJP government in Jharkhand for five years and I promise that our government will straighten out the Bangladeshis who have infiltrated Santhal Pargana by hanging them upside down." 

Recalling the deaths of youths during physical tests for constables in the State,  Shah said that the Soren government had promised to give 5 lakh jobs every year, but instead "made the youth run in search of jobs till they died". Referring to the mining scam worth ₹1,000 crore, he said "mountains of notes" were found from locations linked to Indian Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu and former Congress Minister Alamgirl Alam.

The Minister said that although the JMM and Congress always talk about tribal welfare, when the Congress was in power at the Centre, it had made a provision of ₹20,000 crore for tribal welfare in 2013-14, but when the Narendra Modi government was formed, the budget was increased to ₹1.20 lakh crore. He promised that if the BJP is voted to power, people above 75 would get ₹10 lakh medical insurance.

The Minister also visited Bhognadih, the birthplace of Santhal leaders Sido and Kanu who led the Santhal rebellion in 1855, and paid floral tributes to them.

In a related development, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday (September 20, 2024) reserved its order in a public interest litigation seeking a probe into Bangladeshi infiltration and changing the demographics of the Santhal Pargana.