BJP rakes up ‘demographic shift’ in JMM bastion battle

Octogenarian Janadan Tudu proudly calls Bhognadih village his home. The village, about 400km from Ranchi, was the epicentre of the first organised tribal rebellion against the British in 1855. It has a temple dedicated to Sidho Murmu, who led the mutiny, and his five siblings – Kanhu, Chanda, Bhairav, Phulo and Jhano – who lost their lives during the rebellion known as Santhal Hul.

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The village, which falls in Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s assembly constituency Barhait, was once predominantly tribal. Today, like several other villages in Santhal Pargana – the political bastion of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) patron Shibu Soren – it has a mixed population of about 3,000 people comprising tribals, Muslims and Christians. “Bhognadih has lost its original demography. It is no more a tribal-dominated village as I’ve seen many structures of worship erected in the last 60 years. Earlier, the faith of this village was only for six martyrs, but now many Gods can be seen here,” said Tudu.

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Mandal Murmu (30), who claimed to be descendant of Sidho Murmu, too spoke of the demographic shift. “As per the khatiyaan (original land records of 1932), there were 200 tribal families and only five non-tribal families in Bhognadih. But now, they have outnumbered us. At present, the tribal families are reduced to nearly 100 with some 500-odd population. The Muslims have 200 families of over 1,500 population, while people from other faiths are 150 families,” he said.

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Shivlal Maltho (40) attributed the shrinking tribal population to outward migration and intercommunity marriages. “Our community moves out for livelihood and people from other communities started coming to our villages. They married our girls and settled here. We tried our best to stop this but couldn’t get much success.”

Mohammad Zuber from neighbouring Kadma village, now settled in Bhognadih, married Savitri Tudu (25) two years ago. “I never asked her to convert. We respect each other’s faith. We’ve even named our son Ali Tudu,” said Zuber. His parents have lived in Kadma since 1951.

In Sahebganj district alone, at least eight village heads (mukhiyas) are married to Muslims. Wakeel Ansari, who married Sona Kisku, the present mukhiya of Mayur Kola village panchayat four years ago, said his family has not migrated from Bangladesh. “We don’t have any religious conflict. I always guide her to work for the larger interest of the village than falling prey to divisive politics.”

Census data shows the population of Santhal Pargana has been rising since 1931. According to the Census Commissioner report of 1956, the division’s population in 1951 was 3.4 million, 1.2 million more than 1931 and almost double of 1901. It increased to 6.9 million in 2011.

The ministry of home affairs, responding to a Jharkhand high court notice in a public interest litigation filed by Jamshedpur-based activist Daniel Danish to seek probe into infiltration in Santhal Pargana, said the tribal proportion in Santhal Pargana’s total population decreased by 16%, while the Muslim population increased by 32% between 1951 and 2011. “Of the total population in 2011, the tribal population was 28.11%,” the affidavit said. To be sure, in absolute numbers, population of both tribals and Muslims have increased. However, the deputy commissioners of these six districts submitted affidavits denying any Bangladeshi infiltration in their areas.

During a hearing on September 20,he court expressed surprise over the response and warned the deputy commissioners of a contempt case if even a single infiltration is reported from their areas. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the state government, raised questions on timing of the PIL ahead of polls.

Shyamdeo Hembram, a PhD scholar of Anthropology at Sidhu Kanho University in Dumka, explained the demographic changes through socio-economic factors. “Many younger tribal men have migrated to cities for work and settled there. Many tribals who have become affluent or got government jobs also married non-tribal women. So, there are not many young men of marriage age in tribal villages,” he said.

Sahebganj district deputy commissioner Hemant Sati said that since 2017, four Bangladeshi infiltrators have been caught in the district. “One can’t deny demographic shift in the region. But many factors like unemployment and higher child mortality rate, besides outsiders’ infiltration, are responsible,” he said.

Godda BJP MP Nishikant Dubey advocated for the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “Some stringent laws are needed to prevent outsiders from marrying local women and gaining tribal status for their children. Such women should also be stopped from contesting for leadership roles meant for tribals,” he said.

Dr Irfan Ansari, state rural development minister and Congress nominee from Jamtara assembly seat, countered saying BJP leaders were trying to create ‘polarisation’ of voters. “Religious association is everybody’s personal choice and has nothing to do with elections. The BJP leaders are blowing this ‘divisive’ issue out of proportion during election time because they can see their defeat.”

Santhal Pargana is considered JMM’s bastion, where the party with its allies won 14 of the 18 seats in 2019 election. The BJP could only manage four. However, in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP was able to take lead over the JMM-led alliance in nine of the 18 seats.