Bengaluru emerges as a new destination for Rohingyas evicted from Jammu: Read how a Muslim man is seeking shelter for hundreds of illegal immigrants
· OpIndia
As the authorities in Jammu have intensified the action to remove illegal Rohingya settlements in the region, the evicted Rohingyas have found a new destination for shelter: Bengaluru. Their settlement in Bengaluru is apparently being facilitated by a Muslim man named Dr. Hashim Rifai.
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According to Rifai’s Facebook profile, he is a former Coordinator at the University of Calicut, Kerala, and is the principal of a B.Ed Teacher Training institution called Al-Azhar Training College in Thodupuzha. Rifai wrote a post on Facebook, stating that Rohingyas evicted from Jammu are arriving in Bengaluru to settle there.
Rifai said that five Rohingya families had already arrived in Bengaluru and that 50 more are expected to arrive. He added that the families have been staying in temporary shelters and that he was searching for land to build shelters to accommodate 100 Rohingya families. Rifai urged people in Bengaluru to extend support to construct shelters for the illegal Rohingya immigrants.
Rifai’s Facebook page features many similar empathetic posts for the illegal Rohingya immigrants. In the posts, he portrays the Rohingya immigrants as victims and questions the valid action of the Jammu administrattion.
Notably, the Jammu authorities have been making efforts to prevent the evicted illegal Rohingya immigrants from settling elsewhere. Police stations across Jammu have been directed to watch the movement of Rohingya families evicted from illegal settlements. The authorities have also warned locals against providing shelter or facilitating the settlement of the illegal Rohingya immigrants.
The action of authorities in Jammu followed an inspection of illegal Rohingya settlements in Jammu by a delegation representing the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The inspection was meant to assess the demographic change caused by the settlement of illegal Rohingya immigrants in the area. The authorities carried out the eviction drives across various areas, including Narwal, Bathindi, Sunjwan and Chowadi, where over 7,000 Rohingya infiltrators have been removed and more than 40 kanals of land were cleared.
Large numbers of Rohingyas settled in Jammu
Large numbers of illegal Rohingya immigrants have settled in Jammu & Kashmir over the past couple of decades. Interestingly, the Hindu-majority Jammu region has significantly more illegal Rohingya settlements compared to the Muslim-majority Kashmir region. Their numbers rapidly have rapidly grown from few hundreds to thousands. According to government data, 7,656 Rohingyas were found living across Jammu and Kashmir out of whom 6,737 were identified living across 10 districts of the Jammu region.
It it interesting to note that the Rohingya Muslims, who claim to face religious persecution in their homeland Myanmar, have traveled to vast distances, crossing a Muslim-majority nation like Bangladesh, to settle in Hindu-majority across in India. Illegal Rohingya immigrants began discreetly settling in Jammu & Kashmir in 2009 during the rule of Congress-NC government. The first Rohingya immigrant is said to have settled in Bathindi area in the Union Territory (formerly a state).
The negligence of the local government led to Rohigya settlements multiplying in the area. The Rohingyas even managed to obtain local government IDs such as the ration card and the Aadhaar cards. The influx of large number of Rohigyas, particularly in Hindu-majority regions and their smooth settlement using forged government IDs, raised suspicions of an underlying political conspiracy ton alter the demograohy of the region. Many NGOs are also said to have beeen involved in facilitating the settlement of these illegal Rohingya immigrants.
Rohingya infiltrators posing threat to national security
Apart from Jammu, illegal Rohingya immigrants have established settlements in states including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. According to an estimate, about 40,000 Rohingya infiltrators are illegally residing in India and around 200 Rohingya Muslim infiltrators are enter the Indian territory every month.
The illegal Rohingya immigrants have been found involved in several crimincal activities involving serious offences such as theft and narcotics and human trafficking. They have been involved in activities that pose a threat to the law and order as well as the national security. Rohingya immigrants in India has also been found linked to terrorist activities.
In 2024, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) busted an international human trafficking ring involving illegeal Rohingya immigrants. The network had been helping Rohingya enter India using discreetly or using forged documents. The gang used to train Rohingya infiltrators in languages such as Hindi, Assamese and other local languages before settling in India to avoid detection due to their accents.
In light of rising threat to law and order and national security, the Centre has hardened its approach towards the menace of illgal imigrations. Last year, the Modi government has launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants, including Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators.