GUWAHATI, Sept 18 - The Government of India is concerned about the possible influx of Rohingya Muslims into the country as a militant outfit of the community was reportedly trained by at least two Pakistan-based terrorist outfits and the border guarding forces of India have been directed to stay alert to prevent any such possible influx.
Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that according to intelligence inputs, a group of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar have formed a militant outfit named Aqa Mul Mujahideen and the members of the outfit were trained by terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based outfits including Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The Government of India is apprehensive that if Rohingya Muslims sneak into India, the possibility of Pakistan-based terrorist outfits managing to get foothold in the country cannot be ruled out, sources pointed out.
The newly formed militant outfit had launched a series of attacks in police stations and Army posts in Myanmar in August, which resulted in a major backlash in that country, forcing the Rohingya Muslim to escape from that country and there is every possibility that some of them may try to sneak into India. According to reports, about two lakh Rohingya Muslims have already entered Bangladesh and the Government of Bangladesh is not being able to cope with the situation. Though the Government of India has made its stand clear that it would not be possible for India to provide shelter to the Rohingya Muslims who were forced to escape from Myanmar, the Centre has been sending aids to Bangladesh to provide relief to those who were forced to escape from Myanmar.
Sources said that according to an estimate, there are around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims in India and most of them have settled in places like Hyderabad, Mewat near Delhi, parts of Rajasthan, Jammu area and Kanpur. Most of them had entered India through North Bengal area. Though the New Delhi-based UN Commission for Refugees has issued identity cards to some such people, the Government of India is yet to give recognition to such identity cards and they are not treated as refugees. Till now, there is no settlement of Rohingya Muslims in any part of the North East but more than 30 such persons have so far been arrested in Assam and are kept in detention camps. Interestingly, though the Government of Myanmar has given recognition to around 130 tribes as citizens of that country, the Rohingya Muslims have not been given such recognition.
On the possible exodus of Rohingya Muslims to India, sources said that though the Assam Rifles, which is entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the India-Myanmar border, has been kept on alert, it will be difficult for the Rohingya Muslims to sneak into India through that border, at least in large numbers as they would have to travel a long distance to reach that border from their location in Myanmar. It is easier for them to sneak into Bangladesh and that is why, in recent times, there has been large scale exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh. However, the international border in Tripura is one of the most vulnerable locations through which they can try to sneak into India, while, the border in North Bengal is always vulnerable to such infiltration.
