The plight of the persecuted Hindus from Islamic countries in the neighbourhood who seek refuge in Bharat seldom makes it to the headlines of the so-called mainstream newspapers. But sob stories of illegal Rohingya migrants who infest urban centres and push the crime graph are splashed on the front pages of ‘national’ English newspapers. There are religious outfits and politicians who arrange Aadhar and ration cards to such unruly elements who are brought in trucks and send to various parts of the country. They are clandestinely rehabilitated in strategic areas to bring about a demographic change in the local population. They are provided with all facilities including free electricity, ration and other facilities. Realising they are solid vote bank, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been very generous.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan had systematically settled 300 illegal Rohingyas in Delhi. According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar in May 2020, more than 300 Rohingya Muslims have illegally settled in Madanpur Khadar area of Delhi and are expanding their base. The report says that they are living illegally right across the cremation ground in Madanpur Khadar area of the national capital. Moreover, they have settled on the land of irrigation department of the Uttar Pradesh Government which is about 5.2 acre land.
As per the report, they are also getting all government benefits as well. Amid the lockdown the Delhi Government and Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan provided them with ration. The illegal settlement of Rohingya Muslims has led to stolen electricity through illegal means and also have a boring water.
The report further stated that the local residents allege that the Kalindi Kunj Police station officers know about the illegal Rohingyas are selling marijuana, smack and other illegal substances but are not taking any action against them.
Tripura’s Predicament
It has come to the light that Rohingyas have contributed to the rising crime in the society. Sometime ago, family consisting of six members has been arrested from the Unakoti district of Tripura on December 26, 2021 after they had illegally crossed the Bangladesh border and entered India.
As per reports, Tripura police with the help of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) arrested the family after raiding the house of one Sahnaj Ali from Ichabpur area in the Gournagar Block near Kailasahar. The arrests were made after the police received a tip-off about the Bangladeshi infiltration. Abdul Rakim (32), the head of the family revealed that they illegally entered India from Bangladesh via Dawki, Meghalaya. The Rohingya family then travelled to Assam from where they took an Agartala bound train.
Reportedly, the Rohingya family planned to obtain fake documents and establish themselves as Indian citizens. They tried to stay in Agartala and later moved to North Tripura area of Ichabpur.
Earlier, Chakma organisations in Tripura told the Tripura police that a minimum of 108 Rohingya refugees were arrested between 2018 and March 2021.The Chakma organisations also stated in a memorandum that Tripuris in Bangladesh faced repeated attacks from Bengali Muslims in the area around Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh which caused a rapid influx of the ethnic Tripuris into the Dhalai and South Tripura districts of Tripura, India.
Following the controversy over the proposal to house Rohingyas in economically weaker section (EWS) flats in Delhi following a tweet from Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, on August 17, the Ministry of Home Affairs led by Home Minister Amit Shah clarified that the Rohingya illegal foreigners will not be given EWS flats in Delhi. “Govt of Delhi proposed to shift the Rohingyas to a new location. Illegal foreigners are to be kept in Detention Centre till their deportation as per law,” the HMO said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs stated on August 17 that it has not given any directions to provide EWS flats to Rohingya illegal migrants. “Govt of Delhi proposed to shift the Rohingyas to a new location. MHA has directed the GNCTD to ensure that the Rohingya illegal foreigners will continue at the present location at Kanchan Kunj and Madanpur Khadar as MHA has already taken up the matter of their deportation with the concerned country through MEA”, the HMO tweeted.
‘Instead of providing them housing send them back’: Alok Kumar
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has strongly objected to the plan by the Central Government to house Rohingya Muslims in EWS flats in Delhi and provide them basic amenities. After Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri announced that all Rohingya Refugees will be shifted to EWS flats in the Bakkarwala area of Delhi, VHP issued a statement urging the govt to reconsider the move and expel the Rohingya Muslims from India instead.
Alok Kumar, the International President of the VHP, stated in the statement that it is upsetting to witness Hardeep Puri, the Union Minister for Urban Development, referring to the Rohingya Muslims as refugees and awarding them EWS apartments in Bakkarwala, Delhi. He stated that the Union of India’s continuous position, including in its affidavit submitted before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, is that the Rohingyas are not refugees but infiltrators.
Alok Kumar said, “We are shocked to see a statement of Shri Hardeep Puri, the Union Minister for Urban Development terming the Rohingyas as refugees and allotting to them the EWS flats in Bakkarwala, Delhi. We might remind Mr Puri of the statement made by the Union Home Minister Sh. Amit Shah in Parliament on 10.12.2020 declaring that Rohingyas will never be accepted in India (Rohingya Ko Kabhi Bhi Sweekar Nahi Kiya Jaega).”
“The fact that the Hindu Refugees from Pakistan continue to live in abysmal sub-human conditions in Majnu-ka-Tila area of Delhi makes the bounty proposed to be conferred on the Rohingyas makes it more deplorable,” he added.
It added that the illegal foreigners are to be kept in Detention centers till their deportation as per law. The MHA asserted that the claims of shifting Rohingyas to EWS flats and giving them refugee cards are not true. It made clear that Rohingyas are ‘illegal foreigners’ illegally staying in India, and they will be deported, not be given refugee status.
This comes hours after Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that all the 1100 Rohingya illegal foreigners would be provided with accommodation (EWS flats) and protection.
The impediments
Although the Central Government had made its stand abundantly clear that it treats Rohingyas as illegal immigrants and wants them to be repatriated to their land of origin, it has not been able to send back them. For them, there is no dearth of support system.
Top lawyers are lined up to argue their cases. If their concern for human rights only reason for their legal intervention, then why they don’t ever take up the plight of Hindu refugees from Pakistan or Bangladesh for that matter.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), about 40,000 Rohingyas in India live in camps and slums in different parts of the country. According to an estimate, about 5 thousand Rohingya Muslims live in the surrounding areas of Jammu and Kashmir and around more than 900 Rohingya are living in Delhi. The BJP had blamed Rohingya Muslims and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants for the violence that followed stone-pelting at the Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on April 16, 2022.
Several Rohingyas have made Delhi their home. About 500 Rohingya families put up in slums located in Shram Vihar of Kalindi Kunj in the national capital. The population is going up ever since they landed in India. Jehangirpuri which last year Many have built their slums in Yamuna Khadar. Many Rohingya do not even have a refugee identity card. They have sneaked into the country and reached Delhi via different states. There are more than 150 Rohingyas in the refugee camp located in Shram Vihar.
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