All Rohingya refugees in India are not terrorists: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA:

Bengal chief minister

Mamata Banerjee refused to brand the 40,000-odd Rohingyas taking shelter in India as “terrorists”, deviating from the stand taken by the Narendra Modi government, which submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Monday describing Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar as a potential security threat and linking many Rohingyas with terror organisations like IS.

Banerjee on Monday sought to make a distinction between

Rohingya refugees

and those having terror links. “Let the government take steps against those who have terror links. But the misdeeds of the few can’t be generalised. We need to distinguish between terrorists and commoners,” the chief minister said.

The country’s security could not be compromised but branding the entire Rohingya community terrorist was inhuman, Banerjee said. Citing the argument presented by legal activist Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court, she said: “There are good and bad people in any community. I feel that all commoners are not terrorists. There might be some terrorists in that community who should be considered as terrorists. But they must not be confused with commoners. There is a difference between them.”

Banerjee’s remarks drew a sharp riposte from BJP. “Why is she mum when a large number of Hindus face the same problem in Bangladesh? She never takes the side of Hindus being targeted in Bangladesh, she only stands with Muslims,” state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu alleged.

Banerjee first came out in support of Rohingya Muslim refugees two days ago and expressed concern over the Centre’s stand to deport them back to Myanmar. “We are with the United Nations who appealed to the international community to help the Rohingyas. We believe that all commoners are not terrorists,” she had said.

The Bengal government had earlier approached the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), requesting it to grant refugee cards to Rohingyas lodged in Bengal prisons. There are no permanent refugee camps for Rohingyas in Bengal. Around 92 Rohingyas are lodged at various jails in the state.