‘Mass grave of 28 Hindus killed by Rohingya militants found’
BLOOD BATH Myanmar Army says bodies had been discovered in violencehit Rakhine state THE ARMY SAID THAT SECURITY OFFICERS FOUND 20 DEAD WOMEN AND EIGHT MEN IN THE GRAVES, INCLUDING SIX BOYS UNDER THE
AGE OF TEN
YANGON: Myanmar’s army said on Sunday that a mass grave of 28 Hindus had been discovered in violence- wracked Rakhine state, blaming the killings on Muslim Rohingya militants.
The announcement could not be independently verified in a region that has been seized by communal violence since Rohingya militant raids on August 25 triggered a sweeping security crackdown.
“Security members found and dug up 28 dead bodies of Hindus who were cruelly violently and killed by ARSA extremist Bengali terrorists in Rakhine State,” a statement posted on the army chief’s website said.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is the group whose attacks on police posts triggered an army backlash so brutal that the UN believes it amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.
More than 430,000 Rohingya have fled the region to Bangla- desh in under a month.
Some 30,000 Hindus and Buddhists based in the area have also been displaced, with some saying were terrorised by Rohingya militants.
The army said that security officers found 20 dead women and eight men in the graves, including six boys under the age of ten.
Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed the discovery of the 28 bodies on Sunday.
A senior police officer in northern Rakhine told AFP they had been “buried with 10-15 bodies in each hole.”
The village where the army chief said the bodies were found, Ye Baw Kya, is near a cluster of Hindu and Muslim communities in northern Rakhine called Kha Maung Seik.
Hindus from the area have told AFP that militants swept into their villages on August 25, attacking people who stood in their way, killing many and taking others away into the forest.
FRESH PLEA IN SC IN FAVOUR OF DEPORTING ROHINGYA MUSLIMS
NEW DELHI: A fresh petition has been filed in the Supreme Court favouring the Centre’s stand to identify and deport to Mayanmar around 40,000 illegal Rohingya Muslims staying here.
The plea may be heard along with the PIL filed by two Rohingya Muslim refugees challenging deportation, which may come up for hearing on October 3.
Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, also a BJP leader, said that his plea has been accepted in the court registry and would be heard on the date already fixed.
The plea has sought a direction to the Centre and the state governments to identify, detain and deport all illegal migrants and infiltrators, including Bangladesh nationals and Rohingyas.
“The large-scale illegal migrants, particularly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have not only threatened the demographic structure of bordering districts but have seriously impaired the security and national integration...” the plea said.
It alleged there was an organised influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar through agents and touts facilitating illegal immigrants Rohingyas via Benapole-haridaspur and Hilli (West Bengal), Sonamora (Tripura), Kolkata and Guwahati.
“This situation is seriously harming the national security of the country,” it said.
Meanwhile, Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir who had filed the PIL, claimed they had taken refuge in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there.