Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the government’s stance that some Rohingya Muslim refugees in India have links with terror groups in Pakistan was “post-2014 development”. The Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in India in 2014.

“This threat, at least in J&K, is a post 2014 development. No such intelligence reports ever came up for discussion in Unified HQ meetings,” Abdullah said on Twitter. Around 7,000 Rohingya refugees live in Jammu and Kashmir.

His remark came after the Centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Monday, claiming that the continued illegal immigration of Rohingyas to India has “serious national security ramifications and threats”. The central government told the court, “Some Rohingyas with militant background were active in Jammu, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mewat and are a potential threat to internal security.”

The Centre’s document was submitted in response to a plea filed by two Rohingya immigrants, who claim they faced persecution in Myanmar. Their petition said the Centre’s plan to deport them violated international conventions.

On August 14, the government had announced that it was planning to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees living in India. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had said they were illegal immigrants, even those registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The UN has criticised the decision, which was made even as the Rohingya crisis worsened in Myanmar.

Hours before the Centre filed its affidavit, Rijiju hit out at international human rights groups, and asked them to not spread “misinformation about India” on the Rohingya issue in the country, ANI reported. “Whatever the Government of India does, it will be in the nation’s interest,” he said.