“As many as 38 Rohingya girls have married local youths in the Jammu region and 124 girls have tied the knot with local boys of the Kashmir valley to mix up with the local population,” Daily Excelsior, Jammu based newspaper reported. “As per the officials, many Rohingyas have acquired ration cards, voter cards, Aadhaar cards and Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs) by illegal means to settle down permanently in Jammu and Kashmir with ulterior motives.”

The newspaper said four NGOs have figured in helping Rohingyas with both cash and kind and all of them are based in Kashmir. “Authorities have also detected that 61 Aadhaar cards have been issued to Rohingyas in the Jammu region and 97 in the Kashmir division while eight Rohingyas have also managed to get ration cards in their favour,” the newspaper added.

Meanwhile JKNC president Farooq Abdullah asserted that Jammu and Kashmir government has the responsibility to provide basic amenities like water and electricity to refugees residing in the region. “The Union Government brought the refugees here. We did not bring them,” he was quoted as having said in Kathua. “They have settled them here, and as long as they are here, it is our duty to provide them with water and electricity. This is our responsibility.” His remarks come in response to the BJP claim that the settlement of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu city was a “political conspiracy”, which should be probed by CBI to identify those involved in facilitating it.

In Jammu, the administration had started snapping power and water connections to many houses and plots where Rohingyas were residing. Later, Jal Shakti Minister Javed Rana directed the department not to go ahead with the drive. There are around 13700 refugees from Mayanmar and Bangladesh living in Jammu and Kashmir.