How come Sheikh Hasina is in India, asks Jharkhand chief minister Hemant
The issue of Sheikh Hasina has suddenly been brought up in the Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) of India's Jharkhand state. The state's chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader, Hemant Siren, finally used Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina as a shield against BJP's relentless tirade against infiltration into this state of eastern India. He directly questioned BJP about who allowed Hasina into the country and why. He asked whether this meant BNP had a secret understanding with Bangladesh.
None among the top leadership of BJP replied to these questions raised by Soren.
BJP is desperate to defeat the JMM-Congress coalition government in Jharkhand this time. For quite some time now BJP has been intent on this purpose. They are using illegal entry as a major issue. The BJP leader Nishikant Dubey, elected from Godda in Jharkhand, had been vocal in the Lok Sabha about influx from Bangladesh long before the election was declared.
Dubey had said Bangladesh's infiltrators had set up camp in the state's indigenous areas. They were marrying young indigenous girls and thus changing the demography of those areas in the state.
During the Vidhan Sabha election campaign too, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and other top BJP leaders had also inflated the Bangladeshi infiltration issue. Even on the day that the party election manifesto was published, Amit Shah held the Soren government in question regarding the question of infiltration.
Addressing the chief minister, Amit Shah had said, "You all are giving shelter to the infiltrators. You are using them as your vote bank. When we come to power, we will end such politics of appeasement. BJP will send every infiltrator back. It will rebuild Jharkhand anew."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also has been accusing the state government in Jharkhand of supporting infiltrators from Bangladesh. He said when cases regarding the infiltration go to court, the administration does not accept it because there is infiltration within the administration itself. Modi said, "The infiltrators are snatching away our bread and our girls. The people are suffering."
BJP is determined to slash into JMM's influence among the indigenous communities in order to form the government there this time. That is why they are using the Bangladeshi infiltrators as an election issue. In responding to that, Soren directly brought up the sensitive issue of Sheikh Hasina's asylum in India.
Speaking at an election rally in the state, Soren said, "The BJP leaders are continuously harping on the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators. I want to know, does BNP have some kind of inner understanding with Bangladesh in this regard? If not, how could Sheikh Hasina enter India and stay here since then? Would you kindly let us know?"
Hemant Soren went on to say, if there is infiltration into India from Bangladesh, it is through states ruled by BJP. They themselves have admitted this.