Shiva Gogoi,NAZIRA, August 1: The Supreme Court has directed the Government of India, the petitioners and the intervener party to file affidavits within September clarifying the various aspects of the Rohingya issue for consideration by the apex court.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar issued the instructions to the three parties to file affidavits while hearing the Rohingya case in Court No. 2 of the apex court on Thursday. In a statement issued here, Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha (ASM) working president Matiur Rahman said that the Registrar General of the Supreme Court of India will announce the next date for hearing of the Rohingya case towards the latter part of September after filing of the affidavits by all the parties. During Thursday’s hearing of the case, advocate Prashant Bhushan represented the Rohingyas, while Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and advocate Somiran Sharma appeared for the Government of India and the ASM respectively.
The Rohingyas have moved the Supreme Court seeking permanent sanctuary in India as well as Indian citizenship. “The ASM, the intervener in the case, has opposed granting of permanent sanctuary and Indian citizenship to the Rohingyas. The Mahasangha considers the Rohingyas as foreigners and wants them to be deported back to Myanmar,” Rahman said.
The ASM leader said that illegal immigrants like Bangladeshis and Pakistanis have created large-scale chaos in different states of India, including Assam. “These foreigners have been able to obtain voter cards, ration cards and other vital documents under the patronage of political parties which use them as their vote bank. This has caused a lot of problems for the ethnic or indigenous communities of the states,” Rahman said. “The Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha demands that the Government of India take stringent action against the Rohingyas,” the ASM leader added.
