BLUNT BUTCHER/ANCHOR
The hue and cry being raised by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee over settlement of Rohingya Muslims in Jammu is the worst kind of hypocrisy which politicians generally indulge in after ‘losing the cradle of power’. What did the Congress actually do when these foreigners made Jammu their second home, as they say? They did nothing and now the issue is being raked up only to embarrass the ruling BJP, the so-called champion of Hindutava, and to play with the sentiments of people, who see a threat in Rohingyas.
What an irony; political exigencies change priorities.
If Congress is this time wooing Hindu segment of population by showing concern over the presence of Rohingyas in Jammu, they actually looked the other side while partnering the government with PDP and National Conference in two successive spells. That time, Rohingyas were encouraged because of their religious affiliation in order to satiate their vote bank. Though Rohingyas could not be a vote bank themselves being foreigners, their religious identity was enough to send a message to a particular constituency how secular they were.
The past decade stands testimony to the fact that many Congress leaders and ministers kept visiting Rohingyas colonies with a motivated agenda.
Normally, the presence of Rohingyas should not have raised eyebrows in Jammu, as they are also settled in parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala but the manner in which they came to Jammu raises many questions.
According to a national news agency, Molvi Yunus is reported to have stated: “I crossed into Bangladesh from Burma (Myanmar) when persecution of Muslims became unbearable. From Calcutta I shifted with my family to Delhi where I begged for food to keep myself and my family alive. It was in Delhi that I met a Kashmiri who told me J&K was a state in India where Muslims lived in majority”.
Who was this Kashmiri? Why did he motivate them to come over to Jammu and Kashmir-precisely Jammu and not the Valley? In a city, where apprehensions about demographic change are gaining ground with settlement of a particular community in clusters in the periphery, the presence of Rohingyas has become a major concern. Jammu has become a safe haven for hundreds of Rohingya families – the majority with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards and some without papers. Security agencies are reportedly concerned over some of them falling in the trap of radical elements. In fact, the Rohingyas are getting some assistance from NGOs and several Madrassas are functional for their children.
Unlike West Pakistan Refugees, Rohingyas presence has never been a problem for Kashmir centric rulers, who show lot of resentment against even issuing a domicile certificates for West Pakistani Refugees. The BJP, a partner in the current government, is also clueless as to what measures were needed to be taken to dispel the apprehensions of Jammu people who have of late taken to streets, seeking deportation of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. Had the saffron party been in the opposition, a major row would have since erupted in the Temple City. This too speaks about political hypocracy.
Even as the ruling BJP is maintaining discreet silence over action being initiated to deport Rohingyas, the various other outfits, owing allegiance to Sangh Parivar, have already opened a front against their settlement. Last year the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had set the ball rolling by expressing anguish “over the influx of Mymnaris and Bangladeshis and capturing of Government and private land by them in Jammu city and its outskirts”, describing it as a part of big conspiracy to change the demography of Jammu region”.
With fluctuating responses to basic concerns of Jammu, the politicians are doing extreme disservice to this region, especially the winter capital, which may turn up a safe haven for unwanted elements.
