Rohingyas a threat to national security: Government draft

NEW DELHI: The Centre has taken a conscious decision to deport Rohingyas in public interest since they posed a threat to national security, says the draft of an affidavit the home ministry has prepared to be submitted to the Supreme Court. The report urges the court not to interfere with this decision.

The draft, which the ministry said was being finalised, came on the eve of a crucial hearing which would determine whether the 40,000-odd Rohingya Muslims in India are sent back to their predominantly Buddhist home country Myanmar, where they face persecution at the hands of the ruling regime.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had issued notices to the home ministry to explain its position, acting on two petitions filed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Colin Gonsalves which argued that the government’s decision to deport the Rohingyas was violative of the Constitution and the various international conventions that the country was party to. “There are contemporaneous inputs received by the central government indicating linkages of some of the unauthorised Rohingya immigrants with Pakistan, Bangladesh-based terror organisations,” the draft affidavit said.