Resentment Grows Against Rohingya Refugees in Jammu

Fearing marginalizaton, locals are resenting the shelter offered to 10,000 Rohingya families in Jammu. The locals fear the Rohigyas will encroach on their space like in north-eastern India where Bangladeshi migrants have reduced the local population to a minority.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Hundreds of persecuted Rohingya Muslims migrants from Myanmar have found a new home in the Jammu region of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. But the largely Hindu population of Jammu sees this as a ploy by the Muslim dominated state government to create instability in the region. People of Jammu fear continued migration of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar may reduce them to a minority in their own homeland.

Chief patron of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party and former law maker, Bhim Singh told Sputnik in an exclusive interview termed the migration "a big conspiracy and the state government is responsible for this. More than 23,000 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter in Jammu. Everybody in Jammu, be it Hindu or Muslim, is worried. A state level delegation recently met Federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh and expressed their concerns about the Rohingyas but didn't get any concrete assurance."

In fact, security agencies also see Rohingya Muslims as a security threat as Jammu region is close to the Pakistan border.

Rohingyas, who mainly live in Myanmar's Rakhine province are fleeing their homeland due to persecution. About three to four million have fled to Bangladesh, India, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Thailand.