Home ministry’s replies to several RTIs filed by a Ranchi-based social activist has led rights outfits to claim that the BJP’s narrative of Bangladeshi infiltrators during elections in Jharkhand were “lies” aimed at spreading “hatred”.

Activist Siraj Dutta, also a member of Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (a collective of rights outfits in Jharkhand), shared the RTI replies to the media on Thursday evening.

“BJP senior leaders including the Prime Minister had claimed that there were lakhs of Bangladeshi infiltrators in the state. Even now many BJP leaders are singing the same tune. But the Union home ministry replies itself has exposed the hollowness of their claims,” Dutta told The Telegraph.

The RTI reply dated November 6 from the citizenship wing of foreigners division of the home ministry revealed that the information on Bangladeshi infiltration was not available with the department and suggested that the information can be “available with the bureau of immigration” and “director (F) foreigners division”.

While the the foreigners division’s RTI reply to Dutta dated November 20 said that “data of such illegal Bangladeshi citizens including their activities during staying in the country is not centrally available”.

The RTI reply of December 4 from the immigration section of the foreign division has also claims that it “has no information to furnish” on latest available data on the total state-wise numbers of Bangladeshi citizens.

The RTI reply of December 12 from the intelligence bureau has revealed that the information sought by Dutta does not pertain to Bureau of Immigration (BoI) intelligence bureau (IB).

Dutta claimed that the RTI application made on October 4 this year kept moving in various departments of the home ministry (such as the Citizenship Cell, Foreigners Cell, Overseas Cell, Immigration Bureau, Intelligence Department) for the last three months.

“One after another, departments kept replying that they did not have any information and kept sending it to other departments. The RTI application sought the following state-wise information for the entire country – number of Bangladeshi infiltrators, cases of land jihad, cases of love jihad and action taken by the Home ministry against these cases.”

“The replies prove that BJP spread the lie of Bangladeshi infiltration during the Jharkhand elections to polarise religion. The local administration has said in the related PIL in the Jharkhand High Court that there are no Bangladeshi intruders in the area, the local people are saying that there are no Bangladeshi intruders, the list of tribal women (whom Bangladeshi Muslims have allegedly married) released by the BJP was investigated by national journalists and it was found to be a blatant lie, the team formed by the Election Commission found nothing in its investigation,” added Dutta.

He also claimed that the Centre has also admitted in the related PIL in the Jharkhnad High Court that no connection with Bangladeshi intruders was found in the land dispute cases.

Almost all the senior BJP leaders led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and several Union ministers have been harping on the Bangladeshi infiltration in tribal dominated areas of Jharkhand leading to demographic changes in Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand, both during the election campaign during Lok Sabha polls and recent Assembly elections.

Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha in a release demanded from the state government that if any leader or socio-political organization/party tries to spread communalism by using words like Bangladeshi intruders, land jihad, love jihad, then legal action should be taken against them.