Arguments on Rohingya Muslims must be on law points, not on emotional aspects: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court directed Centre and the two Rohingya petitioners to compile all documents and international conventions for its assistance.

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A Rohingya Muslim Mohamed Rafiq hands a drink of water and biscuits to his wife Noora Khatum who lies exhausted on the ground as they reach Teknaf, Bangladesh, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. He trekked to Bangladesh as part of an exodus of a half million people from Myanmar, the largest refugee crisis to hit Asia in decades. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Fixing October 13 as the date for hearing the matter of Rohingya Muslims, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the arguments in the case should be based on law points and now on emotional aspects. The apex court added that the concern for humanitarian cause and humanity should come with mutual respect. The court directed Centre and the two Rohingya petitioners to compile all documents and international conventions for its assistance.

In its affidavit last month, the Centre had told the apex court that Rohingya Muslims are “illegal” immigrants in the country and their continued (rpt continued) stay posed “serious national security ramifications”. The Centre’s affidavit, filed in the apex court Registry, said the fundamental right to reside and settle in any part of the country is available to citizens only and illegal refugees cannot invoke the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to enforce the right. Also Read: India on Rohingya crisis: Committed to assisting Bangladesh

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The Centre said the Rohingya refugees were illegals and their continuous stay pose a grave security threat. (Source: Reuters/File Photo)

The Centre said the Rohingya refugees were illegals and their continuous stay pose a grave security threat. The government said it may file in sealed cover the details of the security threats and inputs gathered by the various security agencies in this matter. The Centre said that since India is not a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, the obligations concerned to non-refoulement is not applicable. Also Read: ‘We don’t want to go back, we feel safe here’: Rohingya exodus tops 500,000

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A group of Rohingya men, newly arrived in Bangladesh, carry an elderly woman in a basket. This is a common mode of travel for the infirm, who cannot otherwise traverse the difficult paths through the Rakhine forests (Photo: Praveen Swami)

The plea, filed by two Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, who are registered refugees under the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), claimed they had taken refuge in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there. The violent attacks allegedly by Myanmarese army men have led to an exodus of Rohingya tribals from the western Rakhine state in that country to India and Bangladesh. Many of those who had fled to India after the earlier spate of violence, were settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.

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