How did Rohingyas get voter cards, asks Gupta

Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 22

Welcoming the Centre’s move for tackling the Rohingya problem, former Union Minister Chaman Lal Gupta said there was a need for a probe to ascertain who brought these people to the border state and facilitated their stay in sensitive areas in and around Jammu city.

In a statement issued here today, Gupta said it was a serious matter that these unauthorised immigrants had been provided ration cards, voter cards and even Aadhaar cards, besides electricity connections.

He said most of these foreigners had come to Jammu during the reign of the National Conference-Congress coalition in the state.

Gupta has voiced a note of caution over the manner in which the issue of these foreigners is being mingled with those of Tibetan refugees and Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh. He said attempts were being made to communalise the issue.

He also demanded a probe into how thousands of unauthorised constructions had come up in and around the city.

According to an estimate, about 5,000 unauthorised structures have come up in the recent years, mostly in forests.