Indian Political Leaders Again Weaponizing Anti-Rohingya Hate Ahead of Elections
July 16th 2025
Justice For All Canada is concerned by BJP leaders invoking the presence of Rohingya refugees to stoke fear and division ahead of the 2026 West Bengal state elections, including their use of racist and Islamophobic language, which would risk further discrimination and human rights abuses against them.
In public statements to the media, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Samik Bhattacharya referred to a “silent demographic invasion” and warned that Bengal is turning into “West Bangladesh.” He accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of helping Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims obtain fake documents to vote. Bhattacharya made it clear that under BJP rule, only Muslims who aren’t “stone pelters” or “infiltrators” would be welcome, adding “that there should be no name of any Rohingya or Bangladeshi Muslim in the voter list”. He also claimed the party had identified 1.3 million names of suspected Bangladeshi and Rohingya voters and submitted them to the Election Commission. This was presented as proof that the ruling party is helping “infiltrators” gain voting rights (reinforcing the accusation that the TMC is undermining Indian citizenship to win Muslim votes). Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, further accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “protecting Rohingya Muslims” and said she is “destroying Hindu Bengalis.”
Such dangerous, yet unsurprising statements used under the guise of border and security policy, illustrates frequent BJP anti-refugee scapegoating during an election cycle. BJP leaders are drawing on Hindutva talking points to paint the Rohingya as a threat to India’s identity. They’ve tied refugee presence to the idea of a declining Hindu population, and accused the state government of siding with Muslims at the expense of Hindus. This familiar state-sponsored Islamophobia, widely employed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters, incites fearmongering and deliberately attempts to turn stateless refugees into symbols of national decline.
Rohingya Muslims are genocide survivors. In 2017, the Myanmar military killed over 43,000 Rohingya, burned down more than 300 villages, and forced at least 740,000 people into Bangladesh. India currently hosts an estimated 20,000 Rohingya, most of them registered with UNHCR. Over the past several years, Indian authorities have detained dozens of Rohingya families and children in jail-like facilities in Jammu, Assam, and Delhi. At least 12 unlawful deportations to Myanmar-Burma have taken place since 2018. UNHCR has been blocked from visiting detainees and can no longer renew expired refugee cards. Most Rohingya in India now live without legal status or protection, and remain at constant risk of arrest or forced return.
Deportation is not the only abuse at stake. When BJP leaders treat refugees as a threat to Hindu identity or Indian security, it sets the stage for hate speech, police violence, and mob attacks, with often deadly consequences for Rohingya. As a non-signatory to the Refugee Convention, India’s right-wing BJP-ruled government is still bound by customary international law, including the prohibition on refoulement.
1. Justice For All Canada calls on the Government of India to stop using dehumanizing language, halt all deportations of Rohingya, and allow humanitarian agencies to monitor their treatment.
2. We urge Canada to break its silence over gross state-enabled human rights abuses and violations against minorities and refugees in India.
3. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who recently invited and spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2025 G7 Summit, to press India to meet its obligations under international law and to speak out clearly against these attacks on the Rohingya community.
Source
BJP Accuses TMC of Compromising Security: Tensions Rise Over Rohingya Presence https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3506358-bjp-accuses-tmc-of-compromising-security-tensions-rise-over-rohingya-presence
“Silent demographic invasion is on”: BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya hits out at TMC govt’s internal security https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/silent-demographic-invasion-is-on-bjps-samik-bhattacharya-hits-out-at-tmc-govts-internal-security20250716131227/
Won't let Bengal turn into Bangladesh: BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/wont-let-bengal-turn-into-bangladesh-bjp-state-president-samik-bhattacharya/articleshow/122423402.cms?from=mdr
Justice For All Canada is concerned by BJP leaders invoking the presence of Rohingya refugees to stoke fear and division ahead of the 2026 West Bengal state elections, including their use of racist and Islamophobic language, which would risk further discrimination and human rights abuses against them.
In public statements to the media, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Samik Bhattacharya referred to a “silent demographic invasion” and warned that Bengal is turning into “West Bangladesh.” He accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of helping Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims obtain fake documents to vote. Bhattacharya made it clear that under BJP rule, only Muslims who aren’t “stone pelters” or “infiltrators” would be welcome, adding “that there should be no name of any Rohingya or Bangladeshi Muslim in the voter list”. He also claimed the party had identified 1.3 million names of suspected Bangladeshi and Rohingya voters and submitted them to the Election Commission. This was presented as proof that the ruling party is helping “infiltrators” gain voting rights (reinforcing the accusation that the TMC is undermining Indian citizenship to win Muslim votes). Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal, further accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “protecting Rohingya Muslims” and said she is “destroying Hindu Bengalis.”
Such dangerous, yet unsurprising statements used under the guise of border and security policy, illustrates frequent BJP anti-refugee scapegoating during an election cycle. BJP leaders are drawing on Hindutva talking points to paint the Rohingya as a threat to India’s identity. They’ve tied refugee presence to the idea of a declining Hindu population, and accused the state government of siding with Muslims at the expense of Hindus. This familiar state-sponsored Islamophobia, widely employed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters, incites fearmongering and deliberately attempts to turn stateless refugees into symbols of national decline.
Rohingya Muslims are genocide survivors. In 2017, the Myanmar military killed over 43,000 Rohingya, burned down more than 300 villages, and forced at least 740,000 people into Bangladesh. India currently hosts an estimated 20,000 Rohingya, most of them registered with UNHCR. Over the past several years, Indian authorities have detained dozens of Rohingya families and children in jail-like facilities in Jammu, Assam, and Delhi. At least 12 unlawful deportations to Myanmar-Burma have taken place since 2018. UNHCR has been blocked from visiting detainees and can no longer renew expired refugee cards. Most Rohingya in India now live without legal status or protection, and remain at constant risk of arrest or forced return.
Deportation is not the only abuse at stake. When BJP leaders treat refugees as a threat to Hindu identity or Indian security, it sets the stage for hate speech, police violence, and mob attacks, with often deadly consequences for Rohingya. As a non-signatory to the Refugee Convention, India’s right-wing BJP-ruled government is still bound by customary international law, including the prohibition on refoulement.
1. Justice For All Canada calls on the Government of India to stop using dehumanizing language, halt all deportations of Rohingya, and allow humanitarian agencies to monitor their treatment.
2. We urge Canada to break its silence over gross state-enabled human rights abuses and violations against minorities and refugees in India.
3. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who recently invited and spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2025 G7 Summit, to press India to meet its obligations under international law and to speak out clearly against these attacks on the Rohingya community.
Source
BJP Accuses TMC of Compromising Security: Tensions Rise Over Rohingya Presence https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/3506358-bjp-accuses-tmc-of-compromising-security-tensions-rise-over-rohingya-presence
“Silent demographic invasion is on”: BJP’s Samik Bhattacharya hits out at TMC govt’s internal security https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/silent-demographic-invasion-is-on-bjps-samik-bhattacharya-hits-out-at-tmc-govts-internal-security20250716131227/
Won't let Bengal turn into Bangladesh: BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/wont-let-bengal-turn-into-bangladesh-bjp-state-president-samik-bhattacharya/articleshow/122423402.cms?from=mdr