Pakur, India – Abdul Gafur, a 46-year-old farmer from Bada Sanakad village in Jharkhand, India, is angered while sitting at a roadside tea stall with his friends. He defends his citizenship, stating that he and his companions are registered citizens of India with roots that date back generations on the land. The group, mostly Muslims, reject the label of “Bangladeshi infiltrators” that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been using to target them in the state assembly election. This election aims to break the traditional voting bloc of tribals and Muslims in the Santhal Pargana region, where the group forms about 50 percent of the population. The BJP’s tactics of invoking the “Muslim infiltrator” narrative have caused fear among the Muslim community in Jharkhand, as the party attempts to replicate its controversial policies from Assam in the region. Despite the BJP’s denial of using the issue as an election plank, their release of a video depicting Muslims as intruders has sparked controversy and complaints from the opposition party. The Election Commission of India has ordered the BJP to take down the video, but it continues to circulate on social media. Despite the challenges, Gafur and his companions remain patient in the face of divisive political tactics in their state.
