Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday termed the presence of Rohingya refugees in the Union territory as a “humanitarian dispute”, adding that they should not be left to “starve and die”, reported The Indian Express.
His comments came after the Bharatiya Janata Party called for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged illegal settlement of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals in Jammu and Kashmir.
“You cannot let them die in the cold here”, Abdullah said while talking to reporters in Jammu. “Till they are here, you have to take care of them.”
He said that the Centre should clarify the fate of the Rohingya refugees living in Jammu and Kashmir. “They have been brought here and settled, but we did not bring them here,” the chief minister said.
“Now if the Centre’s policy [on Rohingya refugees] has changed, it shall take them back,” Abdullah said. “If you [Centre] want to take them, then take them. However, till they [Rohingya] are here, they cannot be treated like animals. They are human beings and shall be treated like humans.”
“If you can send them back, then send them and if you cannot, then you cannot make them starve and die here,” he added.
The BJP on Monday called the alleged illegal settlement of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals in Jammu and Kashmir a “security concern” and urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe to identify those responsible for facilitating the settlement of refugees in the region.
BJP spokesperson Sunil Sethi criticised the National Conference government for its remarks about providing water connections to Rohingya refugees. He said that the Rohingya settlement in Jammu, being only a few kilometres away from Pakistan, posed a security risk.
Sethi urged Sinha to order an inquiry to “investigate and identify persons involved in bringing in and facilitating the settlement of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals in Jammu’’.
“Such persons/elements should be booked for anti-national activities and punished,” Sethi said. “People should know those showing sympathy with the illegally settled foreign nationals and advocating their cases in courts.”
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