On December 17, a horrific incident came to light in Jharkhand when police arrested a man identified as Dildar Ansari in connection to the brutal murder of his wife, Rubika, a tribal woman. The incident took place in the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand. The accused admitted to the murder of his wife and claimed he killed her over ongoing disputes between them because of his previous marriage. Rubika and Dildar got married only a month ago.

As per reports, Dildar trapped 22-year-old Rubika into a love affair and did not disclose that he was previously married. They started getting into fights regularly when she learned about his first wife. Dildar’s first wife was against his relationship with Rubika and instigated him. Reports suggest that he plotted to kill her because of the family’s constant pressure and continuous fights between the couple.

Dildar killed Rubika and chopped her body into 50 pieces using an electric cutter. The incident, which reminded people of the Shraddha Walkar case, sparked outrage in the country. Dildar reportedly stored Rubika’s body parts in a sack and disposed of them in nearby localities. The matter came to light when locals caught dogs eating the body parts. The police were alerted, and the investigation led to Dildar. The family of the accused was also involved in the murder. The police also detained his parents, first wife, sister, and brothers. Dildar’s maternal uncle was the one who reportedly killed Rubika.

The increasing cases of ‘love jihad’ in Jharkhand

Rubika is not the first tribal woman who got trapped in a love affair with a person of a particular religion. In the last few years, there has been a spike in such cases in Jharkhand and other states where tribals are in large numbers. In the past, organisations like Popular Front of India (PFI) reportedly grabbed 10,000 acres of land using this ‘tactic’ of marrying tribal girls.

In July 2022, OpIndia published an exclusive report on PFI’s ‘India Vision 2047’, where they talked about making India an Islamic nation by 2047. The document read, “From all the cadres who are being given PE, those with talent are to be spotted and recruited to be given advanced training on weapons including firearms and explosives. Meanwhile, Party should utilise concepts such as ‘National Flag’, ‘Constitution’, and ‘Ambedkar’ to shield the real intention of establishing an Islamic rule and reach out to SCs/STs/OBCs. We would reach out to the executive and judiciary and strive to infiltrate our members at all levels to gather information and get favourable outcomes in matters of our interest. Further, liaisoning is to be established with foreign Islamic countries for funding and other help”. This text was part of Stage 2 of the plan.

The land-grabbing technique

One of the main reasons behind luring tribal women for marriage is the law (Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act or CNT Act and Santhal Parganas Tenancy (SPT) Act in the case of Jharkhand, that prohibits the sale and purchase of tribal land to anyone who does not belong to the tribal communities. With such a law in force, Islamists have found a loophole to grab the land belonging to tribal communities.

As per Jagran’s report, a notable spike in such cases is seen in the state of Jharkhand. The report suggested that cases of love affairs, love marriages, and even rapes where the woman is tribal and the man is Muslim have become common. Notably, the tribal communities seem to be okay with the Muslim practice of marrying more than one woman. The report noted that most marriages do not occur as per any rituals and the couple “just started living together”.

Furthermore, tribal women are being used for entry into politics as well. The report suggested that in the last year, around a hundred such marriages came to light. Muslim youth marry tribal women, then make them contest elections on a seat reserved for tribals and gain entry into politics if they win the election. Speaking to OpIndia, Ramesh Shinde of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti also pointed out the spike in such cases.

Tribal women face atrocities from multiple directions

Land grabbing is not the only problem that comes with such marriages. Shinde said, “In Jharkhand, there is CNT Act. No one can sell tribal land to anyone. These people do Nikah with tribal women to grab their land. There are also some cases where they lure the women who work at construction sites. See, tribals are generally poor people, they lure one of the tribal women working at the construction site. Then they lure another woman and marry her. After that, these women continue to work and earn while these men sit at home.”

As per Jharkhand reports, there have been cases where young tribal boys and girls were pushed into human trafficking. Shinde added that the members of the banned organisation PFI are marrying tribal women in Jharkhand from extremely backward areas. They are conspiring to gain control over the land and mind of these women under the guise of marriage. Intelligence Department sources revealed there have been over 1,000 such cases. Most of these cases are from Pakur. He also gave some examples of such cases reported by Jagran in 2018.

• Kabir Haq, a resident of Anjana village under the Muffasil police station area of Pakur, married Lovely Tudu.
• Azad Ansari, a resident of Littipada in Pakur, is married to Sunita Marandi.
• Fakre Alam, a resident of Littipada in Pakur, is married to Tinu Soren.
• Latiful Ansari, a resident of Bhawanipur of Pakur Muffsil, is married to Chandmuni Marandi of Hiranpur.
• Rahim Ansari, a resident of Mohanpur, is married to Sonoti Hansda of Hiranpur.
• Abdul Ansari, a resident of Rahaspur in Pakur Muffsil, is married to a Bogoy worker.
• Azad Ansari of Hiranpur is married to Sunita Marandi of Hiranupar.
• Sahabuddin Shaikh of Maheshpur is married to Mala Koda.
• Mohd Maulvi of Durgapur has married Manika Hembrom.
• Jameel Sheikh, a resident of Kumarpur, has married Waha Murmu, a resident of Jogadih.

Furthermore, he pointed out that in 2014, national shooter Tara Shahdev was lured into marriage by a man named Rakibul Hassan who hid his identity and told Tara that his name was Ranjeet Kohli. He used to force Tara to convert, and reports suggested he even got her bitten by dogs. Shinde said, “Such cases show how Hindus are unaware of Love Jihad and its consequences.”

Tribals are being targeted in many states

Shinde also pointed out similar cases in the North East. He said, “There is a Tribe in Nagaland by the name Sumi Naga. Bangladeshi Muslims travel there for work. They started targeting women of the Sumi Naga community. Slowly, the situation reached a point where there was a new Tribe named “Sumiya”. These are the children of Sumi Naga women and Muslim men. It is an attempt to control the forest land. They want to take hold of the Naxal movement in the forests of these states.”

OpIndia Hindi reported in November about the cases of land grabbing in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and other states. During an event, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh pointed out the problem of land grabbing in the state. He said, “Many times, our daughters and sisters are lured into marriage. They get the land in their names, and those lands become tribal lands. Conversions are also used to grab land.” CM Chouhan implemented Panchayat Extension Act (PESA) to put a curb on such cases.

Rampant conversions among tribal communities

Muslims are not the only ones who are targeting Tribal communities in India. There have been countless reports of Christian Missionaries converting Tribal people on a large scale. Jagran’s report pointed out that the Pahadiya community is one of the 32 Tribal communities that live in Jharkhand. Rubika was from Pahadiya community. Most of these tribal people have already converted to Christianity, and Muslims are targeting those who are left.

Over 10,000-acre land grabbed by PFI members

In 2018, Bhaskar reported that PFI members bought 10,000-acre land in Santhal, Jharkhand. They managed to grab this land by marrying tribal women. PFI was banned in Jharkhand during that period. However, despite the ban, they continued to purchase thousands of acres without any resistance. Special Branch had sent a report to Police Headquarters on the matter, noting PFI was increasing its presence in Pakud, Jamtada, Sahebganj, and Godda.

The report further pointed out that PFI was funding its members and providing funds to illegal Bangladeshi Muslims to purchase land in the area. While registering the land, the Tribal women mention the names of their fathers instead of their husbands to avoid getting caught.

Multiple stories from Jharkhand with similar background

In November, Bhaskar reported how banned organisation PFI’s members are marrying Tribal women and grabbing land. They noted three stories that were just the tip of the iceberg. Bhaskar noted how Muslims were marrying Hindu tribal women, buying lands, and making them enter politics. Interestingly, though the land cannot be sold to a non-tribal, once a tribal woman dies, the property goes to her husband and children. Only SDM’s signatures are required for the transfer of the land.

BJP leaders raised the issue multiple times

In recent times, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on national and state levels have raised the issue several times. In September 2022, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and BJP leader Raghubar Das alleged that PFI members grabbed thousands of acres in Jamshedpur. He said that 8-10 women were killed in a few days which pointed to a nexus.

In the same month, Union Minister Giriraj Singh demanded a law against conversion and asked to bring Muslims under caste census. He accused Muslims of taking advantage of the loopholes and demanded strict laws. Pointing out the issue of Love Jihad and Land Jihad in Jharkhand, he accused the state government of Muslim appeasement.

OpIndia tried contacting Giriraj Singh and Raghubar Das for a comment on the subject but could not reach them.