Recently, a video clip of one minute thirty-nine seconds is going viral over the internet, in which a group of officials are seen demolishing a few constructions using a JCB earthmover. At some parts, the locals are seen trying to stop the officials from the process. As per the claims circulating with the video, the officials took down the buildings of the illegally settled Rohingyas in Jammu & Kashmir.
A Twitter user shared this video, captioned, “As per the Roshni Act, the colonies of Rohingya Jihadis are being razed in Jammu and Kashmir”.
In the viral video, Jammu Links News is seen on the upper right corner of the video. After searching Jammu Links News on YouTube, it led to a video which the channel uploaded on 5th June, 2021 titled, “LAWDA demolishes several illegal constructions, encroachments”.
In the description of the video, it was mentioned that Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) conducted continuous demolition drives through its Enforcement Wing. The drives demolished several illegal constructions/encroachments under the supervision of the Enforcement Officer. The demolition took place in the area of Lashkari Mohalla, Doji Mohalla, Burzhama, Wangut Teilbal, and Nishat.
Zee News, India Today, and TV9 also reported the demolition of illegal constructions/encroachments in May. Such demolition drives have been taking place in the area for the past few years to conserve Dal Lake, shrinking due to raging illegal constructions/encroachments along its bank.
The enforcement officer, Abdul Aziz Qadri, dismissed the claim saying that the claims regarding the viral footage are false. Qadri said, “They are local people of Srinagar. They are constructing illegal constructions alongside Dal lake, which is a green belt, and any sort of construction there is prohibited.”
Several other videos and reports on the incident were found, which mentioned that action was taken against illegal construction and encroachment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, after performing a keyword search with relevant words in Hindi and Urdu and several other articles were found, that reported the incident. The same video was uploaded in an Urdu report published in ETV Bharat on 6th June.
Although, over 150 Rohingya Muslims are detained in Jammu and Kashmir, that started from the month of March. These people are presently lodged at a ‘holding centre’ in Kathua district, where they are provided with all necessary facilities. On 6th March, about 168 Rohingyas were shifted to the holding centre after they were found living illegally in Jammu city during a verification drive.
The Rohingyas are a Bengali-dialect speaking Muslim minority in Myanmar. Many from the community fled to India after violence in their country. As per the provision of Foreigners Act 1946, certain illegal immigrants have been kept at the notified holding centres by the authorities and the process for their deportation to the country of origin has been initiated. More than 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts J-K, where their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016, according to government data.
Thus, the viral video is in no way related to the Rohingyas and such claims are vague. It is clearly related with illegal constructions and encroachments along the Dal Lake.
