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Gen Sinha exposes Sheikh Abdullah, condemns Article 370 Granting refugees citizenship rights 11/3/2014 10:59:32 PM Neha Early Times Report JAMMU, Nov 3 : Former Governor of J&K and Assam Lt General (Retd) S K Sinha has done some plain-speaking and put things in perspective. He has demanded abrogation of Article 370, saying it was a temporary provision which was exploited to the hilt by Sheikh Abdullah to harm India, communalize the state polity and society and deprive the people of their fundamental rights. "Sheikh Abdullah took full advantage of Article 370 to impose various conditions. Indians visiting Kashmir had to take a permit from their district magistrate. This was almost like getting a visa to go to a foreign country. The Indian national flag was not to be flown in Kashmir and no Indian could buy immovable property in Kashmir although Kashmiris could do so in the rest of India. Even the 30,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees coming out of West Pakistan to Jammu area (in 1947 in the wake of communal partition of India) were not given full citizenship. They cannot vote in state elections, acquire immovable property or get government service in the state or their children admission in state government technical colleges". Not only this, Gen Sinha exposed the communal approach of Sheikh Abdullah towards the refugees. He said the refugees from West Pakistan "have now become over one lakh and they are still virtually stateless citizens". Condemning the administration of Sheikh Abdullah and dubbing him communal, Gen Sinha further said: "On the other hand, Tibetan Muslim refugees, who came to Srinagar in 1950, when China occupied Tibet, were given full-fledged Indian citizenship". Gen Sinha is absolutely right. It is a different story that he did not refer to the grant of citizenship rights to those Muslims who migrated from China in 1948 to Srinagar and settled in the Eidgah area of Srinagar with fill citizenship rights. Perhaps, he was not aware of this important fact. But this is not important. What is important is the fact that Gen Sinha has hit the nail on the head by raising the issue of refugees from West Pakistan. It is indeed regrettable that when the entire electorate in the state would go to polls on and after November 25 to elect a new government, these refugees from West Pakistan, who have been residing in Jammu province since 1947, would not. Will someone rise to the occasion and do something for these hapless and abandoned refugees so that they could also lead a dignified life?   Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network     Comment on this Story

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