STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The State unit of BJP recently organised a seminar on ‘Illegal Immigrants -Big Threat to Jammuites’ and took out Jammu Bachao Rally near one of the camps where Rohingya Muslims are camping for a long time.
The objective behind carrying out these activities was to spread awareness over the serious issue of mushrooming growth of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar in and around Jammu.
During the rally, organised by local BJP leaders, slogans were raised demanding ouster of these illegal immigrants from Jammu.
Ironically, senior BJP ministers, enjoying perks of power are observing muted silence, are yet to take a firm stand on how to deal with the issue which is threatening to snowball in to a major controversy in the coming days.
The issue of relocating these Rohingya Muslims from Jammu and other places in Samba surfaced after the issue of awarding native identity certificates to the children of West Pakistani Refugees hogged headlines, especially in the Kashmir Valley.
Local residents in Jammu are unhappy with the BJP ministers including Deputy Chief Minister Prof Nirmal Singh for not raising the issue at the highest level to initiate any strict action against the illegal immigrants. The State Government cannot run away from its responsibility of addressing the issue of illegal immigrants. If records prove that those staying here in the temporary camps have not been carrying valid documents and their antecedents are doubtful, the State Government would have to initiate a formal inquiry and pass necessary instructions to the police to keep a tight vigil on their suspicious movements and to prevent them from falling into the hands of anti-national elements.
It has been reported in the STATE TIMES that some of the Rohingya Muslims have been staying in Jammu even after cards issued to them by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have expired and at present they are yet to acquire renewed cards.
