Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday said Pakistan should “take away” Rohingya refugees because Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar “is fond of them”. “It will be better that Pakistan takes away Rohingya Muslims if Masood Azhar is so fond of them,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a summit organised by CII here.
Taking exception to criticism of the government’s stand on Myanmar refugees, Singh said humanity is not above the law. The Centre had Monday told the Supreme Court that the “illegal” influx of Rohingyas “using the porous border between India and Myanmar” and their continued stay here was “seriously harming the national security.”
Singh told reporters, “There are some politicians in India as well who are standing in support of Rohingyas… They should also be told to send them (Rohingyas) to Pakistan. If Pakistan’s terrorist leader (Azhar) backed by its government is saying this, then the Pakistani government should take them (Rohingyas) away.”
Referring to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir and the continuing infiltration attempts from across the border, Singh said India did not have the capacity to bear more “infiltrators”, therefore Rohingya Muslims would have to leave. Singh — who earlier drew criticism with his remark that those who were trying to stop Narendra Modi from becoming PM should go to Pakistan — reiterated the government’s stand that Rohingyas were illegal migrants.
Amid criticism over the government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court, a number of senior BJP leaders supported the Centre’s stand. Speaking at an event in Ahmedabad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “Every country will decide its course of action based on its own foreign and security policy and balance of population.”