Why Won’t Pak Open Its Doors to Rohingyas, Asks Fatima Bhutto

Pakistan’s “reason for being isn’t worth anything” if it doesn’t make efforts to end this violence, said Bhutto.

On 4 September, Pakistani author and granddaughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Fatima Bhutto, raised concern over Pakistan’s lack of participation in providing refuge to Rohingya Muslims seeking shelter in India.

Bhutto lashed out on Twitter and said:

Why won’t Pakistan...open its doors to the Rohingyas?

We should be a sanctuary, a refuge. Not because the Rohingya are Muslims, but because they are persecuted, alienated and afraid

— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) September 3, 2017

Also Read: Myanmar Death Toll Rises to 400 as 30,000 Rohingya Try to Flee

She added that Pakistan’s “reason for being isn’t worth anything” if it does not make efforts to end the violence against the Rohingyas.

Pakistan's name, its genesis story, its reason for being isn't worth anything if it watches the violence done to the Rohingya in silence

— fatima bhutto (@fbhutto) September 3, 2017

The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea filed by Rohingya refugees on 4 September, in which they have requested the court to ensure that members of the Rohingya community in India are not deported to Myanmar.

Also Read: Will the SC Stop the Government From Deporting Rohingya Refugees?

The petition, filed by senior advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan, is being heard on an urgent basis by a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

The Supreme Court on 1 September had agreed to hear a plea challenging the decision to deport illegal Rohingya Muslim immigrants back to Myanmar. The plea challenges the deportation on various grounds, including violation of the international human rights convention.

Violence in Myanmar

In a related development, around 400 people – most of them Rohingya Muslims – have died in communal violence searing through Myanmar's Rakhine state, the army chief’s office said. Thousands were forced to flee across the border into Bangladesh.

Another 20,000 Rohingyas massed along the Bangladeshi frontier, while scores more drowned attempting to cross the Naf, a border river, in makeshift boats.

Reports of massacres and the systematic torching of villages by security forces – as well as by militants – have further amplified tensions, raising fears that communal violence in Rakhine was spinning out of control. The UN says at least 27,000 have made it across to Bangladesh, while others died trying to flee burning villages.

Also Read: PM Modi to Discuss Security Cooperation, Rohingya Issue in Myanmar

(#TalkingStalking: Have you ever been stalked? Share your experience with The Quint and inspire others to shatter the silence surrounding stalking. Send your stories to [e-mail] or WhatsApp @ [phone])