Jamtara, a district headquarter town in Jharkhand, has the infamy of being the phishing capital of India, home to all sorts of cyber criminals.
The synopsis of the Netflix series set in the town, Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega, described the plot thus: “A group of small-town young men run a lucrative phishing operation, until a corrupt politician wants in on their scheme — and a cop wants to fight it.”
BJP MP from Jharkhand’s Gonda, Nishikant Kamat, gave it a political twist in December 2022.
“The entire world’s cyber crime is happening in my constituency. There has been a big TV series on Netflix called Jamtara on this… All that is being done by the Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators.” Kamat said.
This year, the infiltrator has been the BJP's go-to villain in the campaign for the Assembly elections. Much like the undocumented immigrant for a certain Donald Trump.
Both Trump and the BJP have promised to deport these “infiltrators” – illegal immigrants – en masse. One might even argue that the BJP has promised much more.
Union home minister Amit Shah accused infiltrators of grabbing land in Jharkhand via marriage.
"Infiltrators are grabbing land by marrying our daughters,” he was quoted in an NDTV report as saying in Seraikela on Monday. “We will bring a law to prevent transfer of land to infiltrators if they marry tribal women. We will also form a committee to identify infiltrators to drive them out and reclaim land grabbed by them.”
In Baghmara on Tuesday, Shah underlined the inevitability of the Uniform Civil Code, which, however, would not be uniform in that it would not apply to tribals.
"No one can stop implementation of Uniform Civil Code aimed at preventing infiltration in Jharkhand, and tribals will be kept out of its ambit," he was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
“Trainloads of illegal immigrants will be sent to Bangladesh if the BJP is voted to power in Jharkhand.”
In the coal-belt town of Jharia, he alleged: “Hemant babu [Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren] welcomes infiltrators by rolling out the red carpet for them.”
BJP president J.P. Nadda wasn’t far behind.
“Jharkhand is under an eclipse of infiltration caused by the JMM-led coalition; it will be removed by the BJP,” he was quoted as saying on Tuesday in Jamua and Bagodar. “We will enact a law to prevent transfer of land to offspring of infiltrators who are marrying tribal girls.”
Nadda’s targeting of “offspring” is further in action against intruders than even America, which has DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals for children of undocumented immigrants. Until Trump prevails, that is.
But Nadda was only toeing the line drawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Monday, Narendra Modi had called the JMM-led coalition in Jharkhand a “ghuspetiya gathbandhan (an alliance of infiltrators)”.
The prime minister had accused the state’s ruling coalition of harbouring Bangladeshi ghuspetiye (infiltrators) and called the alliance a “ghuspetiya gathbandhan” for “conspiring to alter the state’s demography for their vote bank”.
The pitch of two other star campaigners for the BJP, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav, was unsurprisingly similar..
“Jharkhand has been converted into a ‘dharmashala’ for Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators who have been given free rein to spread anarchy,” Adityanath said on Monday in Garhwa.
In Jamshedpur on Tuesday, the UP chief minister said: “The JMM-led coalition in Jharkhand is a harbinger of corruption and destruction. Corruption has peaked during this regime. They are allowing entry of Bangladeshi Rohingya infiltrators who are indulging in love jihad and land jihad in Jharkhand.”
Mohan Yadav said: “Instead of taking action, the JMM-led government is patronising them. The infiltrators are snatching our lands and posing a threat to women. They are damaging our religious places.”
BJP’s state president and the first chief minister of the state, Babulal Marandi also said, “the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators has now received the attention…. I have been saying for a long time that this is a very serious problem. We need to get rid of this problem completely as soon as possible.”
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it had seized fake Aadhaars, passports, illegal arms, and property documents during multiple raids related to the illegal Bangladeshi infiltration case in Jharkhand.
The agency had in September filed a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to probe an instance of alleged infiltration and trafficking of some Bangladeshi women into Jharkhand leading to the generation of alleged slush funds.
“The ED action, just a day before polling in Jharkhand, is nothing but an attempt to set a wrong narrative and mislead people,” JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey told PTI. “It is an attempt to help the saffron camp establish its Bangladeshi infiltration narrative in the elections. The BJP will not be successful in its mission.”
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi was more direct.
“I challenge Amit Shah and Himant Biswa Sarma to check India’s map,” he said. “Jharkhand’s border doesn’t touch any country; in fact, it’s Assam’s border that connects with Bangladesh. So, how are infiltrators coming to Jharkhand, and from where? They talk about infiltration even in Maharashtra because they don’t have any issues.”