Kishanganj/Katihar, India – More than a decade ago, when Mukhtar Alam* studied at a government school in Kishanganj, the only Muslim-majority district in eastern India’s Bihar state, he had Hindu friends.
Alam was especially close to one of them. The two would do their studies and school projects together. Alam would avoid meat when they ate together so as to not make his vegetarian friend uncomfortable.
But an incident two years ago created a rift in their friendship, which has not been bridged since.
Addressing a rally in Kishanganj, Jitanram Manjhi, a former chief minister of Bihar and a prominent ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the Shershahbadi community of Muslims were “infiltrators” from Bangladesh, India’s neighbour in the east, where mo