Weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections Rohingya issue has again taken a centre-stage here with the BJP and Congress blaming each other over the settlement of the Myanmar refugees.
Sitting member parliament from Jammu-Poonch parliamentaryconstituency and the BJP leader Jugal Kishore Sharma castigated Congresscandidate and former minister Raman Bhalla for allegedly settling Rohingyas in Jammu. “The deportation ofRohingya will be the main issue during the campaign,” Sharma said after filinghis papers.
“This fight is between nationalist forces and the people who are responsible for settlement of Rohingyas,” he said. However, Congress has accused the former with playing politics over the issue. “Rohingyas were settled in state under United Nations treaty by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee led government before 2002.
The state was headed by National Conference and the BJP represented Jammu province in parliament and Gandhi Nagar constituency in the assembly,” Raman Bhalla told reporters.
He added that in past five years BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh kept objecting to settlement of Rohingyas in Jammu but did not take a single step to deport them. “What has the BJP done in the last five years to deport the illegal foreigner settlers?” asked Congress candidate Raman Bhalla.
When BJP feels insecure, the issue of Rohingyas is brought up in the discussions. From Rajnath to Jugal Kishore, Rohingyas have been declared as threat to national security by the BJP leaders but not a single step was initiated to deport them,” Bhalla added.
Commenting on the issue, former MLC and the PDP leaderFirdous Tak said: “Both BJP and Congresshave made Jammu and Kashmir an election issue. They have turned the state intoa battleground and caused suffering to the people,” he said.