National interest, not religion involved in govt's stand: Madhav
TNN Bureau. Updated: 9/20/2017 1:00:24 AM
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NEW DELHI: Asserting that no politics or religion is involved in the Centre's stand on the Rohingya issue, BJP National General Secretary and In-charge J&K Affairs Ram Madhav said that the decision was purely driven by national interest.
Emphasising that no country in the world allows illegal migrants, Madhav said,"... no politics or religion is involved in this issue. We are simply taking care of our security concerns our national interest."
Madhav also hit out at opposition leaders who are advocating granting Rohingyas shelter in the country, saying they are defending those who pose a security threat to the country.
"We will handle the Rohingya issue on the basis of national security concerns that we have. We will deal with them in an appropriate manner. This is the domain of the executive to take proper, appropriate decision," he said.
Rejecting the view that Rohingiyas should be allowed to stay in India on humanitarian grounds, Madhav said the government was taking care of the "humanitarian interest" of the country's 1.3 billion people.
"People say the government should approach Rohingyas issue with a humanitarian perspective. It is doing this only by taking care of humanitarian interest of 1.3 billion people in India and their security," Madhav said.
Terming the ongoing Rohingyas issue as a major challenge from across the border in Myanmar, the BJP leader said the government is handling infiltration and illegal migration with "utmost maturity".
He said that India had sent a large quantity of relief material to Bangladesh but claimed that even Bangladesh had security concerns regarding Rohingyas.
The government had told Parliament on August 9 that more than 14,000 Rohingyas are at present staying in India.
However, some inputs indicate that around 40,000 undocumented Rohingyas were staying in India, mostly in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan regions.
Rohingya refugees are fleeing from violence-hit state of Rakhine in Myanmar to India and Bangladesh.