STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Expressing disconcert over the steep rise in floating population of Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants in Jammu posing serious threat to the security of the region, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) staged a vociferous protest against the unlawful settlement of these foreign nationals in the outskirts of the city.
A strong contingent of Panther activists spearheaded by Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and former Minister along with other leaders assembled at Exhibition Ground here and raised anti government slogans. While addressing the media, Harsh revealed that post 2012 Rakhine State conflict in Mayanmar (Burma), several thousands of Rohingya immigrants who were forced to leave their native land entered India through porous Indo-Bangladesh border and reportedly there were several thousands of Burmese families who had unlawfully settled in the outskirts of Jammu city during last three years or so.
He said that apart from them several thousand immigrants from Bangladesh were also believed to have inhabited the city illegally who had been living in makeshift slum colonies at some of the congested areas including Rajiv Nagar, Kasim Nagar, Bhatindi, Borhi, Channi Himmat and areas adjoining the Bahu Fort besides others.
Smelling a deep rooted conspiracy being hatched to settle these immigrants in Jammu region, Singh divulged that it had been reported that these people had clandestinely managed PRCs, identity cards, ration cards and water and electricity connections for their daily needs due to patronage of some politicians and officials in the administration.
He said that J and K being a militancy infested State had seen mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the early nineties but the unlawful settlement of foreign nationals in clusters and denying PRCs to the WPRs was undoubtedly intriguing and mendacious in nature.
He said that it was ironical that Rohingyas from Mayanmar and Bangladeshis had managed to settle in the Jammu in recent years but the West Pak refugees being the citizens of India who had entered Jammu to survive the holocaust of partition were struggling for the State Subject rights since 1947.
Likewise, several thousand of Tibetan Muslim refugees were settled in Idgah, Badamwari and Gulshan Mohalla in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh by the State Government who were enjoying the voting rights in contrary to the deprived WPRs.
Fearing the obnoxious inhabitation of Rohingyas in Jammu as a potential security threat to the region, Harsh said that these immigrants had been reportedly involved in several criminal antecedents and were prone to ‘Jehadi radicalization’ in the militancy hit state being close to hostile Pakistan.
He exhorted the State and Union Governments to take serious cognisance of the security threat posed by these immigrants and urged the Union Ministry of Home to facilitate their deportation to the native countries without any delay.
Harsh said that the sinister State alliance had been showing laxity in dealing with the Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals settling in Jammu.