Pakur, India – Sitting at a dusty roadside tea stall with his friends in Bada Sanakad village in the tribal-dominated eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, Abdul Gafur is furious.
“Who says we are Bangladeshi infiltrators? Hear me out, we are the registered citizens of India. To date, God knows how many of our generations have passed away on this land. So, do not insult our ancestors by calling us infiltrators,” said the 46-year-old farmer, as nearly a dozen of his companions, most of them Muslims, nodded in agreement.
