| Demanding comprehensive package, PoK refugees block Tawi bridge for 3 hours | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 16: Demanding comprehensive policy for their settlement and fulfillment of their other demands, thousands of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) refugees today took out a mega procession and paralysed vehicular movement on ever busy Tawi bridge for around 3 hours.
Holding placards in their hands, thousands of PoK refugees including women assembled at Bikram Chowk and shouted slogans against state government for its failure to concede their long pending demands.
Amid shouting slogans they started marching towards Tawi Bridge and staged a sit-in on the Bridge for 3 hours.
After concluding their sit-in they march towards Maharaja Hari Singh park where the refugee leaders addressed the gathering.
Addressing the rally, refugee leaders threatened that that they would widely use the NOTA (None of The Above) option in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and if need arises they could even nominate their own candidate for the fray of their demands would not be conceded at earliest.
Refugee leader Laba Ram Gandhi said these people who had migrated from west Pakistan during partition holocaust of 1947 and settled in the border districts of the Jammu region, since then they were not considered as the state subject of the state, thus depriving form all fundamental constitution, legal and statutory rights in Jammu and Kashmir.
They said that even apex court in the year 1987 has held that J&K Legislature to take action to amend legislature, such J&K representation of people Act, Land Alienation Act, Panchayat Act, eligible to be included in the electoral, to acquire land, to be elected in the panchayat but nothing has been done so far,
Gandhi further said that there was a mechanism in the J&K State's constitution to amend the section 6 under which permanent citizenship has been defined U/S 9 of the J&K Constitution, and it could have been done by the two third majority of the both houses of the state legislature, but even after 56 years have been lapsed, no such amendment has been proposed by the successive ruling parties in the state.
A social activist from New Delhi, Dr R P Singh was the guest of honour on the occasion, Dineshwar Singh Jamwal , President Universal Foundation (NGO pursuing the cause of the West Pakistan Refugees in J&K State) was the Special Invitee and Pritam Sharma, Kranti Dal were also present on the occasion.
Others those who spoke on the occasion in included Sushil Kumar Gupta, Chhaju Ram Manhas, Secretray, Joginder Pal, Lal Singh, Mohan Lal, Raspal Chand, Surinder.
It is pertinent to mention here that Hon'ble Prime Minister of India had announced a special rehabilitation package including special recruitment for west Pakistani children, but nothing has been done since 2008. |
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