SUPPORTERS of Bangladesh’s hardline Hefazat-e-Islam pressure group shouted slogans after police prevented them from marching towards the Myanmar Embassy in Dhaka to protest against the persecution of Rohingya Muslims.
Bangladesh has been overwhelmed with more than 400,000 Rohingya who have fled their homes in Myanmar in the last three weeks amid a crisis the UN describes as ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, India’s government has told a court it has evidence that there are extremists who pose a threat to the country’s security among the Rohingya Muslims who have settled there after escaping the violence in Myanmar.
The claims emerged during a petition hearing at India’s supreme court.
Two Rohingya refugees are challenging a government decision to deport the group from India.
The lawyer representing the pair said the decision was discriminatory. “This is clearly a case of religious discrimination and an attempt to arouse anti-Muslim feeling,” Prashant Bhushan said.
He said the government had no evidence of the presence of militants, but government lawyers said this would be produced at the next hearing in the case, set for October 3.
Ministers say the government should decided whether the refugees should be allowed to remain in India and that the court has “no business to interfere”.
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