The Jharkhand High Court has issued a directive to the state government to identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh residing in the Santhal Parganas region. This order was passed on Tuesday by a division bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai during a hearing on a public interest litigation concerning illegal immigration.
The court’s decision mandates the government to initiate a comprehensive campaign to distinguish the original residents from illegal immigrants in the area. Furthermore, the bench has instructed that essential documents necessary for creating ration cards, Aadhaar cards, and voter ID cards should be issued only after thorough verification of land documents and the domicile status of the applicants.
Illegal immigration was described by the bench as a “dangerous proposition” and a matter of significant concern for both the state and the central government. The court expressed urgency in addressing these issues to prevent any further demographic and social imbalances.
During the hearing, the petitioner, Daniel Danish, highlighted that illegal immigrants have settled across six districts within the Santhal Parganas—Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, Pakur, Godda, and Jamtara. He presented statistics showing a significant demographic shift over several decades, with the tribal population percentage plummeting from 44.67% in 1951 to 28.11% in 2011, while the minority community’s percentage rose from 9.44% to 22.73% during the same period.
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The case is set to be revisited by the court on August 22, as the state gears up to implement the high court’s directives and address the challenges posed by illegal immigration in the region.
