SRINAGAR: Myanmar nationals lodged at the Holding Center in Jammu and Kashmir’s Hiranagar town clashed with the police on Tuesday morning, resulting in injuries on both sides, reported Indian Express.
The clashes erupted when the police intervened to rescue the center in-charge and two staff members who were being held captive by the detainees, the officials said, as per Indian Express. During the rescue operation, the Rohingya detainees resorted to stone pelting, injuring several policemen.
By 11 am, the situation was brought under control after reinforcements from the police and Central Reserve Police Force arrived at the center. The police used lathi charge and teargas shells to disperse the unruly mob and rescue the center’s employees, who had been occupying the office room.
A number of Rohingya detainees were also injured in the clashes, with some sustaining injuries from stones thrown by the protesters behind them. Officials stated that first aid was provided to the injured, and no major injuries were reported.
The atmosphere within the Holding Center in Kathua district has been tense for the past year, with detainees frequently staging demonstrations and hunger strikes. The center currently houses a total of 271 Rohingya, including 74 women and 70 children who were born inside the center.
The trouble, as per Indian Express began when the center staff, while opening the barracks in the morning, were held captive by Rohingya detainees demanding their release. The news spread, prompting the police from Hiranagar police station to rush to the scene, where they were attacked with stones.
Kathua SSP Shivdeep Singh Jamwal, along with other police and prison officials, arrived at the center to assess the situation and confirmed that it was now under control.
The center, previously a sub-jail, was designated as a “holding center” by the Jammu and Kashmir government on March 5, 2021, for the accommodation of illegal Myanmar immigrants as defined under Section 2(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. Many detainees have been held since March 6, 2021, when the central and state governments began relocating Rohingya immigrants residing illegally in Jammu to the Holding Center in Hiranagar, with the intention of eventually deporting them to Myanmar.
However, their deportation was halted following an April 2021 Supreme Court order that mandated adherence to due legal procedures before deporting those detained in Jammu.
The detainees have been demanding their immediate release in order to reunite with their family members, including children residing outside the center in Rohingya settlements.
The presence of Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals has stirred unrest among various organisations based in Jammu, with a traders’ body even issuing threats of violence unless the detainees are deported.
