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| Conspiracy against West Pakistan refugees | | Humanitarian issue | |
Rustam
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 23: Thousands of persecuted Hindus, mostly Dalits, migrated to Jammu in 1947 with the hope that they would be considered Indians by the authorities in Jammu & Kashmir and that they would enjoy equal rights with all other Indians, including those like former Prime Ministers Inder Kumar Gujral and Manmohan Singh who had also migrated from Pakistan and settled in the Indian Punjab after their migration. Sadly, it didn't happen despite the fact that theirs was a humanitarian issue. Even the intervention of the Supreme Court of India didn't help these hapless refugees. As a result, they do not enjoy any citizenship right in Jammu & Kashmir. They are Indian nationals but not the citizens of Jammu & Kashmir.
In between, conspiracy after conspiracy was hatched in Kashmir against these refugees. Even the state legislature conspired against them in the sense that it didn't accept any of the private member's bill that sought citizenship rights for these abandoned refugees.
During the last few days, certain developments took place which suggest that the new government, which could be in place anytime from now, could take some steps to mitigate some of their hardships. It has been recognized both by the PDP and the BJP that the refugee issue is a humanitarian issue and it needed to be addressed. These developments have upset the Kashmiri separatists to the extent that they have urged each other to join hands and oppose the reported move.
On Sunday, the separatists expressed concern over the so-called BJP's agenda on West Pakistan refugees and termed it as an attempt to change the demography of the state. (Interestingly, not a single West Pakistan refugee resides anywhere in the Kashmir Valley; all of them have been leading a miserable life in different parts of Jammu province, especially Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts, since 1947. "Be it BJP, PDP, Congress or NC, they are all same, our enemies," separatist Shabir Ahmad Shah said, and added "but we also know that BJP has the Sangh mindset and they want to change our majority status into minority".
Not only this, Shah warned of "a public stir" if any step is taken to alter the state's demographic profile. "That (citizenship rights to West Pakistan refugees) would not be acceptable to us at any cost…If they would have been the state subjects of the valley, we would have no objection. But they are not. They can settle them anywhere in India," Shah said. "The separatist leadership should sit together and formulate a strategy" against any such move," he further said.
Shah was not the only fanatic who urged the separatists in Kashmir to join hands against the West Pakistan refugees. Syed Ali Shah Geelani also expressed an identical view and on Sunday said: "For us (separatists), there is no difference between BJP and PDP or Congress and National Conference or any other pro-India political party. They are all occupiers…BJP would try to fulfill its agenda after coming to power and that adds to the responsibility of the people".
The Hurriyat Conference (Mirwaiz) also didn't lag behind. "We are keeping an eye on the situation as it develops," said Hurriyat (M) spokesman Shahid-ul-Islam, and added that "Mirwaiz sahib is back to the Valley today and our amalgam will meet in a week's time to discuss the whole issue".
All this shows that the vested interests in Kashmir have made up their mind to hatch a conspiracy against the West Pakistan refugees. It is hoped that the new government would defeat their dubious game plan and take some concrete steps aimed at meeting some of the pressing needs of these refugees. |
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