NEW DELHI, Sept 24 - A fresh petition has been filed in the Supreme Court favouring the Centre�s stand to identify and deport to Myanmar 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 is likely to come up for hearing on October 3.
Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, also a BJP leader, said that his plea has been accepted in the apex 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 Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas.
�The largescale illegal migrants, particularly from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have not only threatened the demographic structure of the bordering districts, but have seriously impaired the security and national integration, particularly in the present circumstances,� the plea said.
The plea 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.
They have recently filed their rejoinder affidavit responding to the Centre�s affidavit that some of the refugees have links with Pakistan�s ISI and terror organisation ISIS and may pose serious threat to national security.
�The Government cannot make a blanket claim that all Rohingya refugees have terror links and there being a fear of them being radicalised by terror recruits operating in India.
�This ground is unsustainable against a whole class of largely destitute Rohingyas who have fled their country over the last few years fearing for their lives, as military operations against the Rohingyas in Myanmar have escalated by the day and there has been a mass exodus of about 4,00,000 Rohingyas from Rakhine province in Myanmar which is the epicentre of the ethnic conflict,� the two Rohingyas said.
Opposing the Centre�s reply, they said there was no specific allegations against individual members of Rohingya community in India and it needs to be dealt with on a case to case basis. � PTI
