Tura, Feb 4: The student organization of the BJP, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, has demanded that Meghalaya Government undertake a Special Intensive Revision “to detect, delete and deport” thousands of illegal Bangladeshi nationals who are alleged to have made the plain belt region of Garo Hills their home, changing the demography of the region and pushing the tribals into a minority.
The demand comes in the light of recent tension between the tribal Garos and the non-tribal Muslim majority in the plain belt following the January 9th attack and subsequent death of a Garo man in an attack at a village called Goalgaon in Rajabala region.
The ABVP, one of India’s largest right-wing student organizations with over 5 million members and affiliated to the RSS, dispatched its National Secretary Kamlesh Singh to the Garo Hills on Tuesday.
Accompanied by state ABVP leaders, namely B Khongtir- state secretary, Tengku M Marak- state farmers secretary and senior student leader K Koch, the national secretary of the ABVP paid a visit to the home of Late Dilseng M Sangma, who lost his life in the attack.
Later, addressing press persons at Tura on Tuesday evening, the ABVP leader Kamlesh Singh accused “jihadist forces” of having a hand in the murder of Dilseng M Sangma.
“There is concern across Meghalaya, particularly Garo Hills following the murder, and the total change of the demography in the plains belt region of Garo Hills is a worrisome matter. The threat to the Garo tribal culture and identity is real,” warns the ABVP leader, claiming that demographic change has been happening over the past 40 years through a mechanism called “Electoral Jihad”.
“Through Electoral Jihad, outsiders, in this case illegal Bangladeshi nationals, have gained political power by getting enrolled in the electorate, voting and contesting elections to the District Council (GHADC) and the state legislature. This power has given them the confidence to challenge the original inhabitants of the place- the tribal Garos,” warns the ABVP.
Citing the ground scenario and the bulk of trade and commerce coming from the plains belt region, the ABVP leader alleged that the majority illegal immigrants have been able to gain control through a “three-fold system of jihad”.
“Realizing the power of the matrilineal system in the tribal areas, they are targeting tribal girls to marry and gain ownership of their land through a system of ‘Love Jihad’. Then there is another form called ‘Land Jihad’ where vast tracts of tribal lands, forest lands are being occupied and natural resources stripped despite the presence of the District Council (GHADC),” says the ABVP while claiming a demographic change from Tikrikilla-Nidhanpur-Chibinang to Phulbari, Rajabala-Selsella and all the way to Mahendraganj.
“The third angle being used to gain dominance over the tribals of Garo Hills is through ‘Economic Jihad’ wherein the entire cashew industry, betelnut business, which form a bulk of the tribal economy, is controlled by outsiders. This is a serious existential threat to the tribal economy,” warned Kamlesh Singh.
The ABVP leader stated that it would press the state government to conduct SIR at the earliest and reminded that this demand for an All India SIR was made during its last national conference in November.
“Meghalaya needs to quickly conduct SIR, not only to detect and delete their names but also deport them from the state. We are calling for a thorough scrutinizing and review of electoral identity cards and AADHAR cards because we know these are used by the illegal Bangladeshi nationals to pass off as Indian citizens,” Singh concluded.
