A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by an NGO named Rohingya Human Rights Initiative seeking direction to the Centre and Delhi government to allow illegal Rohingyas staying in New Delhi access to schools and hospitals. As per reports, the matter was heard by Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh on Monday (10th February).
Last month, the Supreme Court directed the petitioner NGO to apprise the court about the places where Rohingya refugees are settled in Delhi and what facilities are available to them.
The NGO represented by Colin Gonsalves was asked to submit an affidavit with details of Rohingyas in Delhi since the petitioner is an NGO and not an aggrieved party. Gonsalves told the court that Rohingya ‘refugees’ are denied access to schools and hospitals since they don’t have Aadhaar cards.
“They are refugees having UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) cards and therefore they can’t have Aadhaar cards. But, for want of Aadhaar they are not being granted access to public schools and hospitals,” Gonsalves said.
The counsel for the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative informed the court that Rohingyas are residing in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, Kalindi Kunj, and Khajuri Khas areas. “In Shaheen Bagh and Kalindi Kunj they are residing in slums and in Khajuri Khas they are residing in rented accommodation,” Gonsalves said.
Notably, the plea moved by the said NGO sought direction to Central and Delhi governments to give free of cost school admission to Rohingya children despite them not having Aadhaar cards or Indian citizenship The PIL further sought that these Rohingya ‘refugees’ be allowed to partake in all examinations including class 10, 12, and graduation without government demanding ID proof.
In addition to educational benefits, the plea sought an extension of the government’s free health services in government hospitals for Rohingya illegals. Moreover, the plea demanded subsidised food grains as available under the Antyodya Anna Yojana scheme and benefits under the Food Security Act to Rohingya families, irrespective of citizenship.
Basically, the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative and Colin Gonsalves want the Central and Delhi governments to treat Rohingya ‘refugees’ as Indian citizens without them really having Indian citizenship.
Who is Colin Gonsalves?
Notably, advocate Colin Gonsalves is the founder of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) which operates under the aegis of the Socio-Legal Information Centre. It has received funds from George Soros’s NGO in the past. Some of the efforts HRLN has been involved in include the campaign against ISKCON’s Akshaya Patra, a campaign against Indian sedition laws, and it has been providing free legal aid to Rohingya Muslims in India. It has also been engaging in activism for the implementation of the RTE Act that works against Hindu-run institutions. Reports say that Gonsalves’s HRLN also received Rs 50 crores from four European churches to defend the 2020 anti-CAA rioters in the courts.
Furthermore, HRLN is also linked to a plethora of organizations across the country that seek to undermine India’s territorial integrity. Members of the Right to Food Campaign (RFC), an organization HRLN is linked to, were also involved in the protest against then CJI Ranjan Gogoi that sought to undermine the legitimacy of the Indian Judiciary.
Socio-Legal Information Center, a patron of HRLN received a great deal of contribution from Bread for the World. In a recent investigative report, OpIndia found that the has been providing free legal aid to Rohingya detainees across the country. The network has filed PILs related to the implementation of the RTE Act. HRLN has also filed a PIL in the Supreme Court on behalf of Najeeb’s mother, the missing student from JNU, upon which the SC directed the Delhi government, the Police and authorities at JNU to be even more rigorous in their probe to find him. The HRLN was also part of a campaign to abolish sedition along with PUCL, PUDR, APDR, CPDR, and APCLC, which are coordinating organizations of CDRO, an umbrella organization we have reported on extensively.
Interestingly, Colin Gonsalves represented the pro-Hijab students in the Karnataka High Court back in 2022, when a controversy erupted over restrictions on wearing Hijabs in schools. He also represented Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in the Supreme Court when the latter was arrested for his Hinduphobic tweets and facing further charges of insulting Hindu seers and FCRA irregularities
Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (R4R)
Established in 2017, the NGO Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (R4R) was registered as a Public Charitable Trust and non-profit, non-governmental organisation. It receives funds from the Global Statelessness Fund. The GSF is a project of the Netherlands-based Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion. The Global Statelessness Fund and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion receive funding from regime change specialist and philanthropist George Soros’s Open Society Foundation.
All of this money is the trickle down effect from UNHCR Soros's Open Society Foundation, Govt of Canada's Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative which was announced in 2016. As soon Soros fund was announced, R4R was created in 2017. pic.twitter.com/6JxNn5amjv
— Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) (@HinduHate) February 11, 2025
The timing of the creation of R4R is interesting as the NGO came into existence right after George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, UNHCR, Government of Canada’s Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative which was announced in 2016.
Notably, the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative’s Director of Education & Movement Building, Ali Johar was a fellow in Refugees International’s (RI) inaugural refugee fellows program. Ali Johar (Maung Thein Shwe) came to India in 2005, he is originally from Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The RI’s president Jeremy Konyndyk is a former employee of the controversial USAID which was funding media, ‘activists’, dubious rights groups and even Islamic terror outfits. Jeremy Konyndyk was director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance until the Trump administration rendered the USAID defunct. Ali Johar is a part of the Free Rohingya Coalition. This group also receives funding from the Global Statelessness Fund.
Ali Johar was given the Global Youth Peace Ambassador recognised by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India. He is currently a Fellow at Social Change Initiative which is funded by Oak Foundation, Unbound… pic.twitter.com/g7BDHB9vt9
— Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) (@HinduHate) February 11, 2025
Another advisor in R4R is Ravi Hemadri who runs the Development and Justice Initiative (DAJI). This initiative runs project Right to Nationality and Citizenship Network (RNCN) advocates that every child born in India should get Indian citizenship irrespective of their parents being illegal immigrants. “We at Right to Nationality and Citizenship Network (RNCN) firmly believe that the right to citizenship of no child born on the soil of India can be taken away. It is a natural and birth right of every child,” the RNCN’s website reads.
Interestingly, Ravi Hemadri previously served as the Director of The Other Media NGO that led protests against Vedanta Sterlite in Tamil Nadu. Back in 2023, OpIndia reported about allegations that this NGO was misusing foreign funds to organize protests and demonstrations around Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
