India seeks to deport Rohingya, claims terrorist links

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Home Ministry said on Monday it will confidentially share intelligence information with the Supreme Court showing Rohingya links with Pakistan-based terrorists, in a bid to get legal clearance for plans to deport 40,000 Rohingya Muslims.

The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal lodged on behalf of Rohingya against the deportation plan proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.

The Home Ministry submitted an affidavit to the court arguing that the hard-line stance was justified by the security threat posed by illegal immigrant Rohingya, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh, from where many have crossed into India.

The ministry said the illegal influx of large numbers of Rohingya into India began four to five years ago, long before an exodus that saw more than 400,000 Rohingya flee to Bangladesh since August 25 to escape a Myanmar military counterinsurgency offensive that the United Nations has called “ethnic cleansing.”

The affidavit went on to say the government had reports from security agencies and other authentic sources “indicating linkages of some of the unauthorized Rohingya immigrants with Pakistan-based terrorist organizations and similar organizations operating in other countries.”

It also said there was information on Rohingya involvement in plots by Islamic State and other “extremist groups” to ignite communal and sectarian violence in India.

Senior Home Ministry official Mukesh Mittal said the Indian government would privately show the court material gathered from “sensitive investigations” to substantiate the claims in its affidavit.

Attorney Prashant Bhushan, who filed the plea on behalf of two Rohingya men, will file a rejoinder to the government’s affidavit, his office said. The court will next hear the matter on October 3. Meantime, police said on Monday that they had arrested a suspected member of al-Qaida who they believed was trying to recruit Rohingya living in the country to fight security forces in Myanmar.

Senior police officer Pramod Kushwaha said that British national Shauman Haq, 27, was arrested near a bus stop in Delhi on Sunday. He had come to India via Bangladesh.