Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 19 : West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee today organized one day protest rally under the leadership of Labha Ram Gandhi here at Maharaja Hari Singh Park.
Addressing the rally Gandhi said that these people who had migrated from west Pakistan during partition holocaust of 1947 and settled in the border districts of Jammu, since then they were not considered as the state subject of J&K.
Gandhi said that even the Supreme Court of India in the year 1987 held that J&K legislature to take action to amend legislature, 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. He said that this can be done by suitable amending the legislation without amending the J&K constitution.
He further said that it was ironical that even after lapse of more than 25 years, no steps have been taken by the successive governments in the state, moreover, there is a mechanism in the J&K state's constitution to amend the section 6 under which permanent citizenship has been defined under section 9, and it could have been done by the two third majority of both houses of state legislature, but even after 56years have been lapsed, no such amendment has been proposed by the successive ruling parties in state.
It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister of India had announced a spec ial rehabilitation package including special recruitment for the children of West Pakistan refugees, but nothing has been done since2008.
Gandhi appealed to all political parties of J&K to remove all the legal disabilities and immediately deliver the one time settlement as per compensation to each family of West Pakistan Refugees. |
