Bharatiya Janata Party member Nishikant Dubey on Thursday demanded that parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal be declared a Union Territory to deal with the challenge posed by the increasing number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the region.

 

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Dubey said the population of Adivasis in the Santhal Parganas region of Jharkhand was on a decline due to the growing influx of "Bangladeshi infiltrators".

"I demand that Malda, Murshidabad, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar and the Santhal Parganas region be declared as a Union Territory and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be implemented there," he said.

He said Bangladeshi infiltrators were settling in the region and marrying tribal women, who were contesting elections from seats in the zilla panchayat to the Lok Sabha.

"The woman who contests Lok Sabha or zilla panchayat polls, her husband is a Muslim. There are at least 100 village heads in the state whose husbands are Muslims," Dubey said.

The BJP member insisted that it was not an issue of Hindus versus Muslims but settlement of outsiders in the region.

Dubey said the population of Muslims had increased in the Santhal Parganas region as people from Malda and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal were coming in large numbers and driving out the Hindu population from the villages in Jharkhand.

He said the Jharkhand Police was unable to take action and demanded that the Centre intervene to calm the situation. -- PTI