J&K asked to submit data bank in a month
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 9: Acting tough on illegal settlement of Myanmar nationals in Jammu and Kashmir and other States of the country, the Centre has initiated the exercise to deport Rohingyas to Myanmar (Burma) from all States by asking the State Governments to prepare “data bank” of Rohingyas including their total number, places they have settled, date of their migration and related information.
In the meantime, the Centre has directed all State Governments to ensure that Rohingyas don’t manage to get any kind of identity cards in their States including Aadhaar card, Voter I-cards, driving licenses, ration cards etc, through which they could later try to claim Indian citizenship.
“The State Governments have been given one month time to gather all kind of information about the Rohingyas, living within their jurisdiction, and submit it to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, headed by Rajnath Singh,” official sources told the Excelsior.
Sources said the Centre has prepared a detailed roadmap for deporting Rohingyas to Myanmar and an exercise to prepare “data bank” of their number, places of settlement etc were first major step of the exercise.
Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Assam and couple of other North Eastern States where the Rohingyas have settled after their infiltration into India have been asked by the MHA to gather each and every detail about Myanmar nationals within their States and submit data bank to the Union Home Ministry within one month.
Apart from these States, other State Governments have also been asked to keep vigil on settlement of Rohingyas and inform the MHA in case of their fresh arrival from the neighbouring country. These directives were part of an advisory drafted by the Centre Government on settlement of Rohingyas in India.
There are more than 30,000 Rohingyas living in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu region. The numbers, however, continue to fluctuate as some Rohingyas leave for other States in search of manual work while some more reach here from other places. However, the NDA Government has already directed the States, which share border with Myanmar, to strictly guard against any fresh infiltration of Rohingyas from Myanmar. Security forces deployed on Indo-Myanmar border have also been asked to maintain strict surveillance over any infiltration bid.
As per the return roadmap of Rohingyas drafted by the Centre Government, once “data bank” of Myanmar nationals is prepared by all State Governments and submitted to the MHA, the Home Ministry will take up the issue with External Affairs Ministry, headed by Sushma Swaraj.
“The External Affairs Ministry will then take up the matter with Myanmar Government through diplomatic channels for deportation of Rohingyas,” sources said, adding that other options will be explored only if diplomatic channels don’t succeed. Sources, however, observe that since Myanmar Government has good friendly relations with India, it would agree to the request for deportation of Rohingyas to their country.
In the meantime, sources said, the Centre has directed all State Governments, where Rohingyas have settled themselves illegally, to ensure that the Myanmar nationals don’t manage to secure any kind of identity cards including Aadhaar, Voter-ID, ration cards or any other kind of documents through which they can claim Indian citizenship or mix-up with the local population posing themselves as the Indian citizens.
This direction was also part of the detailed advisory issued to the State Governments by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Sources indicated that by initiating series of tough measures, the Central Government has dropped enough hints of its serious efforts to deport Myanmar nationals back to their country as it had reports about involvement of some of them in “undesirable activities” that could pose threat to country’s security.
It may be mentioned here that various political parties and organizations in Jammu including ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been up in arms against illegal settlement of Rohingyas in Jammu as they felt that the Myanmar nationals could change demographic character of the region. The organizations have been holding regular protest demonstrations seeking their deportation to Myanmar.
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