Seeking to reassure fellow refugees, Rohingya community leaders found themselves negotiating with the state over a data-gathering exercise last December.

A good community leader, says Mohammad Zafar (24), should have three qualities: ” Thanda dimagh, padhai-likhai, aur aadmi se nafrat nahi honee chahiye (He should have a cool head, be educated, and have no hatred toward anyone).” Zafar is a Rohingya refugee and a leader, or zimmedaar, of the Rohingya community in Aligarh.

Zafar is a Rohingya refugee and a leader, or zimmedaar, of the Rohingya community in Aligarh.

In November last year, just a month after Zafar was elected zimmedaar, officers from the local unit of the CID landed up at the community centre built by Rohingyas. According to a person present at the meeting, the CID men told the refugees gathered there that they would need to fill out a set of forms, or else their stay in India would be “beqanooni”, illegal, and the government could then do whatever it wanted with them.

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(Tag: Resilience)