Jammu Tawi, July 18: Tension broke out on Tuesday when illegal immigrants (Rohingyas) allegedly clashed with prison staff at the Holding Centre in the Hiranagar belt of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said that the illegal immigrants allegedly clash with prison staff and also pelted stones demanding that they should either be deported to their native land (Myanmar) or be released.
Notably, more than 271 illegal immigrants were lodged at the sub-jail notified as Holding Center two years back for lodging them under Section 2(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Sources said that the illegal immigrants attacked the jail staff thus triggering a clash, adding, “Around eight cops and few Rohingyas sustained injuries during stone pelting.”
Senior police officers from the district on getting the information rushed to the spot to defuse the tension. The officers camped at the clash site.
Most of the detained foreigners were found living illegally in Jammu during a special verification drive.
The Rohingyas are a Bengali-dialect-speaking Muslim minority in Myanmar. A large number of them entered India illegally through Bangladesh and spread over to many parts of the country including Jammu.
Many political parties and social organisations in Jammu have been urging the Centre for the deportation of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals, alleging that their presence is a “conspiracy to alter the demographic character” in the region and a “threat to peace”.
More than 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in the Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir, where their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016, according to government data.
