Restore Rohingyas' citizenship rights: Jamaat

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Saturday condemned the acts of violence being committed against the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar and appealed to the UN to pressurise Yangon to restore the "constitutional and citizenship rights" of the community.

"The terrible acts of violence against the Rohingyas still continue. The social media is rife with videos showing the horrible acts of crimes against them.

"More than two lakh people of that community have been displaced so far," Mohammed Salim Engineer, Secretary General, JIH, told the media here.

"We appeal to the UN and all major human rights groups to pressurise the Burmese government to take steps for stopping the persecution of Rohingyas and restore their constitutional and citizenship rights," he said.

He also appealed to all those governments where the community members have taken refuge to take care of them.

On Tuesday, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and stand to be deported from India.

The Minister of State for Home asserted on September 5 that nobody should preach to India on the issue as the country has absorbed the maximum number of refugees in the world.

"I want to tell the international organisations whether the Rohingyas are registered under the UN Human Rights Commission or not. They are illegal immigrants in India," Rijiju had told reporters here.

The civil society organisation also condemned the murder of Kannada journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, 55, who was gunned down by unknown assailants at her Bengaluru home on September 5.

Calling her a strong voice against the casteist and communal forces, the Jamaat termed her murder "a chilling message to all journalists" committed to create a "climate of fear".

"The murder is a direct assault on the freedom of expression... The cowardly attack is threat to freedom of press and rule of law in the country... We condemn it," Engineer said.

The Jamaat welcomed the Supreme Court's directive to the states to appoint a senior police officer as nodal officer in all districts to stem the menace of cow vigilantism.

"The Jamaat hopes this will serve as a dire warning to the cow vigilantes who take law into their hands. It will also make the states take action against the communal and bigoted who spread violence in the name of religion," said Engineer.

--IANS

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