Sriram Murali (Velamur)

In 2018, I visited Rohingya bastis in Jammu An intelligence (IB) officer told me he had recorded 1,548 Rohingya families living in the region by then I asked one Rohingya, 60-year-old Sayed Hussain, how he ended up in faraway Jammu after crossing the border in West Bengal. “I boarded the first train I saw [at Kolkata station]. It was noon. The journey ended at Jammu," he said Hussain said he was among the first Rohingya to have settled in Jammu’s Bhatindi area 10 years earlier Another Rohingya, 27-year-old Mohammed Tahir, also gave the same reason Later, the IB officer laughed at this explanation. Told me, “By all accounts, they boarded the Sealdah Express that crosses Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab before reaching Jammu. It’s an arduous two-day journey. Why did they not get down at any of the stations in between?” There is a syndicate active in Kolkata that has facilitated Rohingya migration to Jammu for years. They tell the Rohingya that the only Muslim-majority state in India is their "natural home" Ironically, most settle in Hindu-majority Jammu and not Muslim-majority Kashmir. The officer showed me figures on how Rohingya are scattered over 42 sites across Jammu, meaning they are being settled all over the region, and many Army camps were now surrounded by them In 2015, Abdur Rehman al Arkani, a Jihadi killed by security forces in south Kashmir, was from Rakhine from Myanmar. He went by pseudonym “Chota Burmi” Role of several Rohingya men in helping Pakistani Jihadis trespass Jammu border had surfaced by then. They are considered experts in infiltration as they are deft in cutting the fence, know tunneling, and are skilled in camouflage. Plus, they have a victimhood narrative of being wronged by qafirs - the Buddhists of Myanmar In Jammu's Bhatinda are I visited, it was a surprise how quickly they had flourished, as if being pampered and nurtured. An entire lane of shops was called "Burmi market". Most dry fruits factories were employing Rohingya women for cracking walnuts Local Hindus told me how these infiltrators had bigger and better stocked shops than them, who had lived here for generations The officer told me how using the UNHCR cards, which have no legal status or validity in India, Rohingya have obtained Aadhaar cards, ration cards and, in some cases, even permanent resident certificate (PRC) cards, all through fraudulent means Eight years later, these Rohingya are all still there in Jammu. Apparently the govt is running an anti-encroachment drive these days asking them to clear the areas they have illegally occupied, and some of them have reportedly begun to leave But the exercise is looking more like a temporary inconvenience for the infiltrators than a serious effort to clear Jammu and India of them.