Mamata Banerjee expresses concern over plight of Rohingya Muslims, says 'all commoners not terrorists'

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday expressed concern over the plight of Rohingya Muslims and supported the UN appeal to help them. The United Nations had appealed to the entire international community to keep the political differences aside and support the ongoing humanitarian efforts to help Rohingya Muslim refugees. [caption id=“attachment_3970723” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Mamata Banerjee. PTI[/caption] “We do support the UN appeal to help the Rohingya people. We believe that all commoners are not terrorists. We are really concerned,” Banerjee said in a tweet. “We have made very clear our concern at the ongoing tragedy of the Rohingyas, people who have been forced to leave their homes. The reports we’re getting, the pictures all of us are seeing are heart-breaking to say the least,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson to the UN Secretary-General, had stated on Wednesday. An estimated 380,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees have fled Myanmar and reached Bangladesh after a crackdown by Myanmarese security forces in response to an attack on a military outpost by Rohingya militants on 25 August. Meanwhile, home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said the Centre will file an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Monday on its plans to deport Rohingya Muslims. The government told Parliament on 9 August that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR, were staying in India. However, some inputs indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are staying in India illegally and the Rohingyas are largely located in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.