Unfazed Anayat-ul-Rahman, a Burmese national, living in Channi-Rama area on the outskirts of Jammu for over three years is not worried over the outcome of the ‘vitriolic’ campaign against Rohingya muslims for past several months.
With no major worries on his mind he is preparing to start a new phase of life by getting married soon.
“I have already selected my life partner.He shies away while sharing name of his life partner.All he says, “my parents had told me to get married soon”, Anayat-Ul Rahman told The Pioneer.
According to him the formal ‘nikah’ ceremony with a Burmese girl would be solemnised in his uncle’s home in the same locality.
He is upset because his parents won’t be around to bless him.
Tracking down his journey from his home in Shah Bazar area of Myanmar Rahman said, “when atrocities (Zulm) became unbearable for us my parents decided to send me to Bangladesh”.
“I trekked jungles on foot with a group of other Burmese national fleeing the country before crossing the border”. After crossing the border i stayed for about one month in Bangladesh before shifting to Kolkatta. From Kolkatta i boarded a train and came to Jammu. Since 2013 i am staying in Channi -Rama. Rahman has been issued a refugee card by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Referring to the intention of the Union/ state governments to deport illegal immigrants from Jammu in the wake of political pressure mounting on them Rahman said,” “I am not worried over the fate of Rohingya muslims staying in Jammu”.
“If the government will allow us to stay here we will stay here and if they will deport us we will have to abide by their decision.We have no choice either”, Rahman said.
Ever since king size posters directing these Rohingya muslims to ‘Quit Jammu’ surfaced in the walled city of Jammu in the first week of February 2017 a sustained campaign is going on against them to ensure their deportation from Jammu.
More than 5,000 Rohingya muslims are presently staying in over two dozen localities in Jammu.
Referring to his daily ordeal Rahman said, “life remains the same for us”. “I start early in the morning and keep collecting garbage in my cart. I earn 250-300 rupees on daily basis”. Anayat-Ul-Rahman said i am staying alone in my temporary shelter. One of my uncle is living next to my ‘jhuggi’. I pay Rs 1000 for power and water connection and 800 for my room rent (temporary).
The Union government had recently started exploring the options of deporting these Rohingya muslims from Jammu region. The decision was taken after several government agencies in Jammu had detected some of these Rohingya muslims have even managed to prepare vital government documents such as Ration cards, Aadhaar cards, fake state subject certificates etc.
Embarrassed state govt machinery had directed fresh census of these illegal immigrants and had also deployed various teams to scan the database to weed out any illegal immigrant in the list.