Modi cabinet minister slams Varun Gandhi for advocating refugee status for Rohingya Muslims

After BJP’s Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi, in an article, advocated asylum for Rohingya Muslims escaping violence in Myanmar — a view contradicting his own party’s stand on deporting the refugee — was slammed by a senior minister from the Narendra Modi cabinet, stating "the statement is against national interest."

The lawmaker in his column for Navbharat Times had asked the government to consider granting refugee status to the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Hansraj Ahir, Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Hansraj commenting on Varun’s article said, “No nationalist would ever give such a statement.”

He said, “Rohingyas have created trouble for Myanmar and worked against the government. If Myanmar has rejected them, why should we accept them?"

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Ahir added that the Modi government is using full force to stop the Rohingya from settling in India since they are a security threat.

Gandhi in his opinion piece published in Navbharat Times had said that India has rich tradition of helping refugees.

He also suggested the the government to form a national refugee policy, which differentiated between people fleeing a country following persecution as opposed to those fleeing poverty.

Gandhi’s column asking the government to consider granting refugee status to the Rohingya refugee has not gone down well with the ruling BJP government.

According to government figures around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims have taken refuge in India.