VHP warns Shimla civic body over jobs to Rohingyas

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 8

The deployment of some Rohingya Muslims in the door-door garbage collection in five municipal wards has raised the ire of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) here.

The VHP has opened a front against the BJP-ruled SMC, district administration and labour authorities, saying that they were giving a free run to the Rohingyas, Bangladeshi intruders and other migrant labourers in the capital and other parts of the state that would create law and order problems.

“If the state authorities fail to act, the VHP will launch an agitation,” warned VHP state chief Aman Puri on Sunday.

On the other hand, Shimla Mayor Kusum Sadret claimed that they had deployed no Rohingyas for the door-to-door garbage collection in Totu, Majiath, Boileauganj, Kachhighati, Tuttikandi, which was outsourced to MK Construction. “We have not signed the letter of intent, hence the contractor has not started the work,” she said.

The Mayor said they had got information from some media sources that some Rohingyas were hired by the contractor. “But we have asked the contractor not to hire them, keeping the security of the country in mind. The contractor will get workers verified by the police,” she said.

Puri, however, charged that thousands from Bangladesh were working as labourers in cable-laying works while some were in Kullu and Manali.

“We will not tolerate this and the government should identify them and send them back to their countries,” Puri demanded.

Former Shimla Mayor Sanjay Chauhan said it was pre-staged drama being enacted by the BJP-VHP- RSS combine as a run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

While Additional Chief Secretary, Home, BK Aggarwal could not be contacted despite the repeated attempts, DC, Shimla, Amit Kashyap said the registration and verification was done by contractors in the Labour Department.