Govt to file affidavit on Rohingya in SC

NEW DELHI — Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said the government will inform the Supreme Court of its stand on the Rohingya immigrants on September 18, and refused any further comments on the issue.

Asked about the politics over the Rohingya refugees, a persecuted community of Muslims from Myanmar who have fled the country in large numbers, the home minister said: “Whatever affidavit we have to file, we will file on September 18.”

The Supreme Court has fixed on Monday for hearing of a plea challenging the government’s decision to deport illegal Rohingya Muslim immigrants back to Myanmar.

Several Union Ministers, as well as ministers in the Assam government, have in the past said that the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants in India and will have to leave the country. An affidavit on the issue, which the government later said was just a draft and being worked upon, was leaked after it was inadvertently served on the counsel for petitioner Muhammad Salimullah.

In the draft affidavit, the Centre said there were “contemporaneous inputs” received by it that indicated links of some of the unauthorised Rohingya immigrants with Pakistanand Bangladesh-based terror organisations. The Centre also said that it was found that there were organised network of agents and touts facilitating illegal migration of Rohingyas in India.