AARYAN SHARMA
JAMMU: Contrary to the in-depth survey carried out by a group of young Jammu activists about settlement of Rohingya Muslims in the city outskirts, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Simrandeep Singh has gone viral on social media under-playing the entire episode that has caused grave concern among the people of Jammu with regard to imminent demographic change at the behest of certain pan -Islamic forces and elements from the Kashmir valley.
The spokesperson for the young activists told STATE TIMES that 5,155 Rohingya families comprising five to eight members each are presently settled at Bathindi, Belicharana, Narwal, Talab Tillo, Bohri, etc.
Astonishingly, the PHE department has allotted 23 connections to Rohingya families in Karyani Talab area of Bathindi while the immigrants are enjoying the facilities of power supply, allegedly, in nexus with PDD staff.
On the instance of Jammu activists, the panicked PHE staffers disconnected six water connections in the huff.
As reports about large number of Rohingya Muslims having Aadhaar, ration cards and even state subject certificates, DC Jammu Simrandeep Singh carried out a surprise check and claimed that a ration card and other documents were seized from one of the Rohingya families.
In order to push the matter under the carpet and silence the public outcry, the district administration posted in its WhatsApp group that similar raids would be carried out in future, said one of the activists from Jammu.
DC Jammu Simrandeep in social media stated, “I received inputs regarding one particular family. I myself inquired and went to the house to find out as the matter seemed very serious. The allegations were confirmed based on which we will scan our databases to weed out these illegal immigrants if there are more cases of these migrants possessing these Proofs of Identity which they r not supposed to have”
“Our teams will do a complete scan of documents of all these people,” he wrote in social media adding “Basically if one manages to get a single proof of local identity/address, then all the services can be availed.” Ironically, the undue delay has cost the State government machinery dearly as these immigrants have managed to penetrate in various departments with the help of their sympathisers to lay their hands on vital documents such as Aadhaar cards, Voter ID cards, ration cards and even state subject certificates.
For several months large number of Jammu based activists and volunteers who have exposed the deep nexus between the State government machinery and sympathisers of Rohingya Muslims. However, no one paid heed and ignored ringing alarm bells.
Local residents had also alleged that these illegal immigrants have been enjoying patronage of political parties and leaders from Kashmir valley to affect demographic changes in Jammu.
Now to cover up their follies, the district authorities claimed to have tracked down at least one family from Myanmar having valid Voter ID cards, Aadhaar cards, ration card and even state subject certificate.
Despite carrying out the surprise raids, the office of Deputy Commissioner Jammu had not issued any formal statement or details of these raids, vital documents seized, when they were processed, who was at the helm of affairs and for how long these illegal immigrants were using these documents to consume ration supplies.
To a query on social media that whether these Rohingyas are staying in a rented accommodation or have built their own houses or staying in temporary shelters, DC Jammu Simrandeep Singh replied, “some rented, some encroached.”
On asking “When this raid was conducted? ” Singh requested to avoid these details as verification process is on.
It is also not clear how many illegal immigrants camping across different localities have so far managed to process their proof of identity and proof of address.
However, responding to the queries on official WhatsApp group; administered by the DC’s office, Simrandeep Singh said these illegal immigrants were staying in rented accommodation and in some cases have encroached upon the State land in the area to raise temporary structures.
However, the local police authorities claimed the owners of the houses never reported presence of illegal immigrants in their premises.
The expose has embarrassed the entire State machinery and several heads are likely to roll after the completion of preliminary inquiry.
On the other hand, the State government now faces the biggest challenge of verifying the records to ascertain how many illegal immigrants camping across more than two dozen localities have actually managed to acquire these valid documents.
Rough estimates suggest that more than 5,155 Rohingya families have been camping in Jammu and State PHE Department and PDD have been providing them water and electricity connections.
Meanwhile, large numbers of sympathisers have been found donating ration and other items to help these immigrant families. The entries of donors are clearly marked in registers kept at these clusters of Rohingya Muslims.