According to the central government estimates, around 40,000 Rohingyas may be living in India illegally. They have arrived in the country through porous India-Myanmar and India-Bangladesh borders since 2012-13.
Rohingyas are an ethnic group of Rakhine province of Myanmar. They fled their country following clashes with Buddhist population and persecution by the police and military.
Depending on differing estimates of the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Centre, there could be 6,000 to 10,000 Rohingyas living in Jammu, where their presence has become the subject of hot debate.
SUPPORT FROM SEPARATISTS, MILITANTS
While the central government has stated categorically that it is in favour of deporting Rohingyas living in the country illegally, the separatist leaders of the Kashmir Valley today called a protest march against alleged “persecution” of Rohingya Muslims to show solidarity with them. The protests turned violent at several places.
Earlier, Head of Al-Qaeda’s offshoot Ansar Gazawat-ul-Hind in Kashmir, Zakir Musa expressed solidarity with Rohingyas living in Jammu. In a 10-minute-long audio clip, Zakir Musa warned the Narendra Modi government against deporting Rohingyas from India.
The support for Rohingyas from separatists and Al-Qaeda offshoot’s has made the government’s case of deportation of the illegal refugees stronger. The government has already said that the presence of such a vulnerable population in the country poses security risks to the country.
Yesterday, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said that it was a problem for her government to sifting terrorist from innocent citizens. Likening terrorism in Kashmir with Rohingyas problem, Suu Kyi said, “Because (there is) a large Muslim community in India and in places like Kashmir, you had this trouble of sorting out the terrorists from the innocent citizens and all those who are not involved in the terrorist movement at all. So we have the same problem.”
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