Sabber Kyaw Min with Rohingya community workers. Image courtesy: Sabber Kyaw Min
On March 25, Sabber Kyaw Min, founder and director of Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, was detained by Hyderabad Police. A Rohingya refugee himself, Min is one of the most respected leaders of the migrant community in India.
But on March 25, Min alleges, that he was not only picked up on baseless charges, but also prevented from contacting anyone for a long time. When he was allowed to speak to someone, it was with the police listening as the call was conducted on speaker phone. But what’s worse is that the moment Min complained about how he was being harassed, a policeman slapped him!
After he was released from detention and finally reached Delhi, SabrangIndia spoke to him and in this interview, Min tells us his side of the story:
Q) You live in Delhi, but were detained in Hyderabad. How did that happen?
A) My in-laws live in Hyderabad, and as we had not been able to meet them in a long time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to visit them. I decided to carry some Covid-relief materials such as sanitisers and masks with me along with a few posters that we use here in Delhi in Rohingya refugee settlements. There are 31 settlements of Rohingya refugees in Hyderabad, and community workers are engaging in similar drives in some of them. I took these materials with me as I thought it would help them.
Poster distributed by Min’s group among refugee families in Delhi
Q) So, did you give them that material?
A) Well after I reached my in-laws’ place in Hyderabad on March 25, I had a meal and rested a bit. After that some six or seven community workers who are all refugees themselves, came that evening to meet me for a “dua-salaam” (an informal meet and greet). They told me they wanted to conduct a proper training session on Covid care and management in Refugee Camp number 27 located at Royal Colony in Balapur. I told them that such a session would require prior police permission, but gave the people present there a few basic guidelines. I also gave them 10 sanitizer bottles each, about 50 posters and a few masks and requested them to share it with whoever needed help.
Q) What happened next?
Even while I was talking to them, I got a call from the police who asked me why I was in town? I explained I was visiting my in-laws. He then asked why was I conducting a meeting without permission? I explained to them that this was just an informal gathering of very few people who had just come to greet me. But shortly afterwards, two cops showed up, grabbed all my Covid supplies. They snatched my phone, made me sit in their vehicle, and took me to the Balapur police station. They questioned me again about why I did not seek police permission. I told them that this was not my first visit and that I was visiting my in-laws. I also told them that I didn’t know I needed permission for a visit. They then said I was conducting a meeting without permission to which I reiterated that it was an informal “dua salaam” with a few acquaintances who know me because of my work.
Then they started grilling me about my documents – what documents did I use to get flight tickets and my mobile SIM card. I explained I have a Refugee Card. Then they put me in a room next to the lock-up.
Q) Did they let you call anyone?
A) They had taken away my phone, so I asked them for it saying I needed to make a call. But they refused to give me my phone. By then, my wife had informed my team in Delhi about my detention and they contacted local social workers and human rights groups. They spoke to Ravi Nair at the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, Ravi Hemadri Daji who is the founder of Deployment Justice Initiative, Tapan Bose who is a filmmaker and Free Rohingya Coalition Ambassador and a few others. These people then started calling the police station and that is why the police let me go after a few hours. I am incredibly grateful to them and Human Rights Defenders and lawyers, because of whom I was released.
Q) But weren’t you allowed to even contact your lawyer?
Well, I got a call from a UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) lawyer, and police allowed me to receive the call, but put it on speaker phone so they could also listen in. He asked me if I was being harassed and I said, “Yes”. That’s when a police officer slapped me.
Q) He slapped you?
Yes. He slapped me, grabbed me by the hair, grabbed my collar and verbally abused me.
Q) What was this officer’s name?
A) His name was A. Shahidul. He is a sub-inspector. He was the one who slapped me.
Q) What happened next?
A) They made me sit in the room next to the lock up for about four hours. Then they took down my address in Delhi, my father’s name. Then they said that I must leave the city before 10 A.M the following day, or I will be detained again. Then they let me go. So, although I had a return ticket for March 28, I got an emergency ticket and returned to Delhi. I also sent a picture of the ticket to my father-in-law so that they don’t face harassment.
Q) But why do you think you were targeted?
A) I am well known in the media for my work, and have nationwide and even international contacts. The cops here have been harassing refugees and perhaps they feared I would file a report and inform the media and human rights organisations about it. Cops keep looking for a reason to detain refugees. Even if some refugee, who is settled in Jammu visits Hyderabad or migrates here and is given shelter by a family living in these camps, cops use it as an excuse to detain people. There is a lot of harassment. The police have two stooges among the refugees who keep the police informed about any new arrivals.
Q) What action are you planning to take now?
A) I have spoken to Ravi Nair and Tapan Bose. But frankly what action can be taken? Police know who I am and what I do, yet they treated me like a criminal. I told them clearly that I only work to highlight the injustice faced by Rohingyas and have never spoken ill of Indian authorities. I am worried that if I take any action, other refugees could face greater harassment.
Q) How many Rohingya’s are there in India at present?
A) There are 6,500 people in Jammu, 1,200 people in Delhi and about 8,000 in Hyderabad. There are 1,700 in Haryana, a total of approximately 2,000 people in Bangalore, Rajasthan and UP put together. While the Indian government says there are 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India, as per UNHCR estimates the number is closer to 18,000. According to our estimates, there are a 225 people in detention centres in Bengal, Assam and Tripura. 81 are detained in UP, 168 in Jammu and Kashmir, and 270 in Hyderabad. They are kept in different jails. Most of them are people who migrated from Jammu. Some people have been nabbed for having Aadhaar cards, some have been accused of being Bangladeshi and some were detained for offering shelter to other refugees.
*Images courtesy Sabber Kyaw Min
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