Admission of 10 Rohingya children sparks political row in Delhi

At a press conference here on Sunday, AAP MLA Anil Jha accused the BJP of “double standards” on the Rohingya issue, alleging that despite the party’s public opposition to the presence of the refugee community, its MLA from Karawal Nagar had facilitated the admission of 10 Rohingya children to a Delhi school.

“The BJP robs Delhi’s poor children of their rights and secretly prioritises Rohingyas,” Jha alleged. He cited a tweet by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri welcoming Rohingya refugees and claimed that the Centre had been actively working to settle them in the capital while ignoring India’s own marginalised communities.

Jha demanded an investigation and questioned as to how the Rohingya children were admitted, asking: “Under what law were they given school admission?” He also criticised the Central government for failing to control the influx of Rohingyas, despite border security and intelligence agencies being under its control.

Meanwhile, in a swift rebuttal, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor dismissed the claims as “false and misleading”, asserting that the admissions in question were carried out under orders of the Supreme Court during the AAP government’s tenure in January and February this year.

“The BJP formed the government only on February 20, 2025. The order for admitting Rohingya children was passed earlier, in response to a petition filed by advocate Ashok Agarwal, in December 2024. The Kejriwal government did not oppose it in court,” Kapoor said.

He challenged Anil Jha to produce documents or letter proving the Karawal Nagar BJP MLA’s involvement in the admissions. “If there is any shred of evidence linking the BJP MLA to the process, Jha should present it publicly. Otherwise, he should apologise,” he added.

The BJP further claimed that AAP’s silence in court on the issue aligned with its own political agenda and that the current accusations were an attempt to deflect public attention from its own shortcomings.