J&K Government Starts Tightening Noose Against Illegal Rohingyas, Launches Verification Drive

Alarmed over the seizure of fake Adhar card and other documents from Rohangiyas, Jammu and Kashmir government has started tightening noose against illegal immigrants staying in Jammu.

Sensing that more trouble may lie in store if proper verification of these immigrants was not conducted at the earliest, a special verification drive was started by the union territory administration at M A Stadium here today to identify Rohangiyas living in Jammu without proper documents.

Officials involved in the verification process have been mandated to scan the documents of these illegal immigrants and prepare a database to rule out the possibility of misuse of valid documents by some anti-national elements.

During verification, 155 illegal immigrant Rohingyas staying in the UT of J&K were identified and sent to the holding centre in Hira Nagar, established vide Home department notification dated March 5, 2021.

“This was done under section 3(2)e of the Foreigners Act. Due process of law was followed in this exercise,” a senior officer said.

Giving details, he added that these immigrants were not holding valid travel documents required in terms of section (3) of the Passports Act.

The senior officer informed Times Now that the exercise of identifying more such immigrants is still in progress. “After sending them to the holding centres, the process of nationality verification will be done as per the prescribed process. After completion of the Nationality verification, the process of deportation of these illegal immigrants will be initiated,” he added.

The recent seizure of fake Adhar card and passport brought Rohangiyas under the scanner

The worst fears of security experts warning against the mushrooming growth of illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh here in the city of temples have once again come true with the recovery of fake Adhar card and passport from Rohingya Muslims camping in Jammu.

Security agencies were alarmed when Trikuta Nagar Police during a raid on February 23 arrested two Rohangiyas from Bathindi area. From their possession cops recovered fake Adhar cards and passports.

Trikuta Nagar Police has lodged a case FIR No. 71/2021 u/s 419, 465, 467468, 471 IPC against two suspected individuals identified as Aashiq-ul- Rehman s/o Ali Ahmad, resident of Myanmar at present near Matoo Medical Hall Bathindi Morh, Jammu and Abdul Gafoor S/o Abdul Jabbar resident of Rahim Nagar, Jammu.

During the course of the investigation, police found that one of the accused, Abdul Ghafoor, was working as a cleric in one of the mosques in Bathindi. Security agencies are investigating how he managed his passport and Adhar card.

Indian citizenship on sale

This is not the first time when fake documents have been seized from Rohingyas. In 2017 also, then deputy commissioner Jammu, Simrandeep Singh during surprise checking in the Belicharana area had seized fake Adhar cards, pan cards and state subject from Rohingyas.

The seizure had raised several questions about how these illegal immigrants managed to get Indian citizenship.

The seizure had also put question marks over the working of the then state government departments, which had failed to detect the fake documents or deliberately connived with these border crossers at the behest of their political sympathisers who wanted to resettle them with the sole purpose of changing the demography of the Jammu region.

Most of the Rohingyas settled in Jammu are camping near security installations

As per Home Department records, more than 7,000 Rohingyas have been camping around 28 localities here in the Jammu region for the past several years.

Most of them have settled in areas that are in close vicinity of vital security installations like Sunjuwan military station or Army camps near Belicharana and other areas.

What is alarming is that most of these illegal migrants have managed mobile phone sims, using fake documents to register themselves with the service providers. This is considered to be a cause of major security concern.

Keeping in view all these developments, many Jammu based political parties and some social organisations had unleashed sustained campaign in the past to get Rohangiyas deported. In their view, the presence of these illegal immigrants in the city of temples can be a security threat in near future

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Source: ToI

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