Agartala, Aug 6 (IANS): The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, demanding the verification of 1,675 intruders, including 174 Rohingyas, who have been detained by the BSF in Tripura between 2021 and April 2024.
Demanding a strict vigil along the border along with other appropriate measures, the CDFI urged the Home Minister to provide shelter to those people belonging to religious minorities seeking shelter in India to escape persecution during the ongoing political turmoil in Bangladesh.
CDFI founder Suhas Chakma claimed that the BSF detained 208 intruders, including three Rohingyas, in 2021; 369 intruders, including 59 Rohingyas, in 2022; and 1,018 intruders, including 112 Rohingyas, between January 2023 and April 15, 2024.
“The CDFI welcomed the memorandum recently submitted by Tipra Motha Party MLA Ranjit Debbarma to the Home Minister on the issue. Records show that most of the Rohingya refugees were arrested from Sepahijala, Unakoti, West Tripura, and North Tripura districts. If investigation is only done in Chamunu, Gandachara, and Silachari areas, the real picture will not come out as the infiltrators move throughout the state and the country,” Chakma said in a statement.
He said that whenever such political turmoil takes place in Bangladesh, it becomes an excuse to target religious minorities.
In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, about 28 indigenous/tribal people’s villages have been captured by Muslim settlers in the last two-and-a-half decades, Chakma claimed.
“Regarding the Rohingya influx, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had registered four cases of transnational human trafficking of Rohingya refugees in Guwahati, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Jaipur. In connection with the Guwahati case, the NIA arrested at least 21 persons from Tripura. The NIA has already filed chargesheets against many accused persons,” he added
The CDFI leader said all these make for a case to investigate the entire state of Tripura.