NEW DELHI: Continuing the row over the accommodation of Rohingyas in the national capital, Delhi BJP on Thursday trained guns at the Kejriwal government claiming its officials wrote letter after letter requesting that the "infiltrators" be provided EWS flats.
The Kejriwal government has not provided even proper electricity connection to the Pakistani Hindu refugees living in a camp here, but it ensured proper accommodation, food and all other facilities for Rohingyas, alleged Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta.
"There were numerous communications from the home department of Delhi government and its district magistrate (south-east) to FRRO, NDMC, and the DCP concerned for providing EWS flats to Rohingyas," Gupta claimed.
"Kejriwal government has a duty to identify illegal infiltrators living in the city instead it is busy protecting them. Chief Minister Kejriwal is concerned about infiltrators not refugees," he said.
The central government and Delhi government agencies were working on the option to shift Rohingya families living in a temporary settlement in south Delhi's Madanpur Khadar after a fire there June last year, official documents show.
The 1,200 Rohingyas were proposed to be housed in 240 EWS flats in Bakkarwala constructed by Delhi government agency DUSIB, but the move did not happen due to a pending security audit by the Delhi Police, documents showed.
The AAP has alleged that the BJP-ruled central government had plans to provide permanent housing to Rohingyas in Delhi.
Union Minister Hardeep Puri on Wednesday in a tweet lauded the proposed shifting of the Rohingyas in the outer Delhi area, saying the move will silence a lot of discreditors of the central government.
The Union home ministry almost immediately after issued a statement saying no such plan was afoot, and in effect, discredited Puri's statement.
After the MHA's statement on Wednesday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the central government made a U-turn on the issue and tried to blame it on the Delhi government after hue and cry that Puri's tweet engendered.
The Centre had specifically instructed officers of Delhi government and Delhi Police to keep the Chief Minister and ministers in the dark and settle Rohingyas in Delhi behind their back, he went on to allege.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said he has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to order a probe to ascertain on whose instructions the decision to shift Rohingya Muslims to apartments in the national capital was taken.
"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.
Addressing a press conference, Sisodia said he has also urged the home minister to make clear the Centre's stand on the issue of shifting of Rohingya Muslims.
Sisodia claimed the Home Ministry came out with a clarification on the issue on Wednesday only after Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's tweets on the move to shift Rohingyas was opposed by his Aam Aadmi Party and others.
Hours after Puri said that Rohingya refugees in the national capital will be shifted to flats for 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.
After Union Home ministry denied any move to shift Rohingya Muslims in Delhi to EWS flats, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the MHA's statement gives out the "correct position".
In his earlier tweet during the day, Puri, however, had said that Rohingya refugees would be shifted to apartments in Bakkarwala in outer Delhi and would also be provided basic amenities and police protection.
Later in the day, the MHA issued a press release, making it clear that it had not given any directions to provide flats to Rohingya Muslims in Delhi and asked the Arvind Kejriwal government to ensure the illegal foreigners remained at their present location.
The MHA also said the Rohingya illegal foreigners are to be kept in detention centres until their deportation as per the law and the Delhi government has been directed to declare the current site of their stay as a detention centre.
"Home Ministry's press release with respect to the issue of Rohingya illegal foreigners gives out the correct position," Puri tweeted along with a copy of MHA's statement.
A Union Home Ministry spokesperson in a statement on Twitter said that illegal foreigners are to be kept in Detention Centre till their deportation as per law.
The Government of Delhi has not declared the present location as a Detention Centre.
They have been directed to do the same immediately, the spokesperson said.
"With respect to news reports in certain sections of media regarding Rohingya illegal foreigners, it is clarified that the MHA has not given any directions to provide EWS flats to Rohingya illegal migrants at Bakkarwala in New Delhi," the spokesperson also said.
Earlier in the day, Puri tagged a news agency story in his posts and said those who had made a career out of spreading canards on India's refugee policy deliberately linking it to CAA would be disappointed.
"India respects & follows @UN Refugee Convention 1951 & provides refuge to all, regardless of their race, religion or creed," he said.
"India has always welcomed those who have sought refuge in the country. In a landmark decision all #Rohingya #Refugees will be shifted to EWS flats in Bakkarwala area of Delhi. They will be provided basic amenities, UNHCR IDs and round-the-clock @DelhiPolice protection," he said in his earlier tweet.
Hitting out at the Central government, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the BJP-led Centre was "secretly" trying to give "permanent residence" to Rohingya refugees in the national capital, rejecting the Union home ministry's claim that it was the Delhi government's proposal.
He also said the Centre was in the morning calling the move to shift Rohingyas to EWS category flats in the city as its "achievement", but later started shifting the blame on the Delhi government after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) opposed it.