Conspiracy: Sisodia writes to Amit Shah, seeks probe into decision to shift Rohingyas to Delhi flats

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Aug 18: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to order an “impartial probe” to ascertain on whose instructions the decision to shift Rohingyas to flats here was taken.

He alleged that some officials of the Central and Delhi government ‘had hatched a conspiracy’ and taken a decision on the issue without proper consultation.

Addressing a press conference, Sisodia termed the move to shift Rohingya refugees “a conspiracy” and alleged that the decision in this regard was taken by some central government officials and those of Delhi Police while keeping him and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal “completely in dark”.

“Hence I have written a letter to home minister and requested that he should first make Centre’s stand clear before the country. If the Centre also believes that Rohingyas must not be allowed to settle down, then on whose instruction these decisions were being taken going against even the Centre’s stand.

An impartial probe should be held into the issue, and whosoever, if they were going against the Centre’s stand or going ahead hiding it from the elected government of Delhi, strict action should be taken against them,” he said.

Sisodia said the Kejriwal dispensation has made its stand clear time and again that it considers any type of “illegal stay of Rohingyas” in the national capital a threat to Delhi and national security. “We did not take any decision to shift Rohingya Muslims to flats.

The Centre also says it didn’t. Then who did it?” Sisodia asked and demanded strict action against those behind the decision. Sisodia claimed the Union Home Ministry came out with a clarification on the issue on Wednesday only after a row erupted over Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s tweets on the move to shift Rohingyas to apartments in Bakkarwala area in outer Delhi.

Hours after Puri said that Rohingya refugees in the national capital will be shifted to flats for the economically weaker section, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday denied any such move and directed the Delhi government to ensure that “illegal foreigners” remain in detention centres pending their extradition.

It also said that the Delhi government “proposed to shift Rohingya Muslims to a new location”. Rejecting the Union Home Ministry’s claim that it was the Delhi government’s proposal, Sisodia had alleged on Wednesday the BJP-led Centre was “secretly” trying to give “permanent residence” to Rohingya refugees in the national capital.