Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday assured action against Jammu commerce chamber leaders for threatening to kill Rohingya Muslim refugees, Kashmir media reported.
All those who will try to take law into their own hands will face action. All those who will try to threat or intimate those (Rohingya Muslims) will face action.
At a Press Conference held at Jammu's Chamber House, the President of Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rakesh Gupta openly threatened to kill Rohingya Muslim refugees if the government doesn't deport them.
In a message that incites violence, the Chamber of Commerce stereotyped all Rohingyas and criminals as drug traffickers, "disowned by their own country" and threatened to “identify and kill...such criminals”.
The Chamber of Commerce & Industry was the first to demand their deportation from the State of J&K as the Chamber is committed to protect the interests of the people at large in the State as a part of social corporate responsibility. Chamber President Rakesh Gupta warns the State and the Union Government that such settlers should be deported within one month, and the people, on whose land these foreigners have settled, be booked under PSA, otherwise Chamber shall have no option but to launch “Identify and Kill Movement” against such criminals.Official Statement of Jammu Chamber of Commerce
Kashmir Chamber of Commer Calls the Threat “Divisive”
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Saturday condemned the controversial statement made by the president of its Jammu counterpart on Rohingya refugees, terming it irresponsible and divisive.
The KCCI strongly condemns the statement made by the president of Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIJ) wherein it threatened to identify, catch and kill Rohingya refugees in Jammu...instead of involving itself in activities beneficial for the trade and commerce. CCIJ has taken upon itself the role of vigilantism.
Previously, hoardings had been put up by Dogras, urging “Jammuites to unite to save history, culture and identity of Dogras” and asking the Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims to leave the region.
The central and state governments are exploring ways to identify and deport Rohingya Muslims who have illegally entered Jammu and Kashmir. The issue was discussed at a 3 April meeting in New Delhi, convened by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, and attended by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Braj Raj Sharma and Director General of Police SP Vaid.
According to a senior home ministry official, there are an estimated 40,000 Rohingyas who have taken refuge in India. Around 5,500-5,700 are based in Jammu alone, while the home ministry suspects that the numbers may be as high as 11,000.
Despite being pro-active in her country's politics, Myanmar leader Aung san Suu Kyi, remembered as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, denied the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingyas in the Muslim-majority Rakhine region.
There have been multiple reports of the Myanmar army blocking access for aid workers. They have also been accused of raping and killing Rohingyas.
Thousands of desperate Rohingyas flooded over the border into Bangladesh to escape the violence forcing the United Nations Human Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to call them to be “one of the most persecuted, excluded and vulnerable communities” in the world.
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