Crossfire between Rohingya Insurgents and Myanmar Military leaves Hindu Refugees In a Deadlock

• The Hindu refugees, who fled to Bangladesh, have placed their hopes on the Modi government
• The Hindu refugees are scared of moving back to the Buddhist majority Myanmar's Rakhine state
• The Indian government was waiting for the Supreme Court to hear an appeal against the home ministry's plans of deporting Rohingya Muslims from the country

New Delhi, September 21, 2017: The crossfire between Rohingya insurgents and Myanmar's military has left hundreds of Hindus, who fled to Bangladesh, placing their hopes on the Indian government.

Around 500 Hindus have taken shelter in a cleared-out chicken farm, in a Hindu hamlet in the southeast of Bangladesh. The place is situated at a distance of a couple of miles, where most of the 421,000 Rohingya Muslims, who also fled violence in Myanmar since August 25, have taken abode, mentions the Reuters report.

The Hindu refugees are scared of moving back to their villages in the Buddhist majority Myanmar's restless Rakhine state. Modi government, meanwhile, is working to make things easier for Hindus, christians, Buddhists, and other minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh to gain access to Indian citizenship.

"India is also known as Hindustan, the land of the Hindus," said a Hindu refugee, Niranjan Rudra, "We just want a peaceful life in India, not much. We may not get that in Myanmar or here."

The fellow refugees agreed and shared their desire of getting this message received by the Indian government through media.

The Indian government, however, has declined to comment on hopes of Hindu refugees. it was waiting for the Supreme Court to hear an appeal against the home ministry's plans of deporting around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims from India.

Achintya Biswas, a senior member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also called the World Hindu Council, on the other hand, stated India as the natural destination for the Hindus fleeing Myanmar.

Also read: Stop Lecturing And Demonizing India over its Plan to Deport 40,000 Stateless Rohingya Muslims: Minister

"Hindu families must be allowed to enter India by the government," Biswas said, according to a report by Reuters, "Where else will they go? This is their place of origin."

Biswas said the VHP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, would be submitting a report to the home ministry demanding a new policy that would be allowing Hindu refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh to seek asylum in India.

While India's Home Ministry spokesman, K.S. Dhatwalia declined to comment, a senior home ministry official in New Delhi, on the condition of anonymity, mentioned that no Hindu in Myanmar or Bangladesh affected by the violence had approached Indian authorities.

"At this juncture we have no SOS calls from Hindus," the official said.

"Also, the Supreme Court is yet to decide whether India should deport Rohingya Muslims or not. The matter is sub-judice and any policy decision will be taken only after the court's order."

Hindus form a small but an established minority in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Rudra along with other Hindu refugees talked about how they fled soon after Rohingya insurgents attacked 30 Myanmar police posts, instigating a fierce military counterattack.

"Our village in Myanmar was surrounded by hundreds of men in black masks on the morning of Aug. 25," said Veena Sheel, a mother-of-two whose husband works in Malaysia.

"They called some men out and asked them to fight the security forces … a few hours after we heard gunshots," she added.

Soon after taking office in 2014, the Modi government issued orders stating that no Hindu, or refugees of other minority from Bangladesh and Pakistan would be deemed as illegal immigrants even if they had entered the country without having the required documents, on or before December 31, 2014.

India, indeed, is in a tough situation, where it can't compromise with the principles it holds being a Secular nation that is always engaged in humanitarian activities, but will also need to keep in mind the potential security threats that might come along with such an act of acceptance.

-prepared by Samiksha Goel of NewsGram. Twitter @goel_samiksha