GUWAHATI: A crackdown has been ordered on Rohingya Muslims by the Assam government. These people are believed to be settled systematically by a network of sympathisers in minority-dominated districts of the state in large numbers.
On February 22, the Finance Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that they have been able to arrest only those people who have been detected so far. They fear that more Rohingya people could have come in multiple streams and might have settled here. The government has asked the police force to detect all of these people as their top priority.
The finance minister also added that certain organisations are pushing Rohingya Muslims into Assam and are raising a network to collect donations for them.
He said that 75 of these people have been arrested in Assam so far and are in judicial custody or detention camp in Goalpara jail or have been repatriated. He added that there are no designated camps for the Rohingya in Assam.
Sarma further mentioned that most of them have been detected and arrested in Hojai, Lumding, Cachar and Karimganj districts. The biggest group of Rohingya Muslims were arrested in Karimganj district on January 21.