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| J&K's ignored Indian citizens | | | Hari Om | 1/16/2015 10:43:45 PM |
| The West Pakistani refugees are as much Indian as any of us. They must be given their due.
An insidious influence is at work in Kashmir to arouse
anti-India feelings by misleading the gullible Kashmiri
Muslims that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is hatching dangerous conspiracies to alter Kashmir's demographic profile and destroy the State's Muslim-majority character by granting citizenship rights to West Pakistani refugees, including the right to property, right to service, right to education, right to vote, right to bank loan, and so on. In effect, Kashmiri separatists of all hues, Kashmiri mainstream parties like the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Kashmiri intellectual class, the Kashmiri business community, the Kashmir Bar Association, Kashmiri commentators and opinion-makers, and Kashmir-based religious organisations are up in arms against the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre.On January 6, a Joint Parliamentary Committee consisting of 31 members and headed by Mr P Bhattacharya, submitted its report on the plight of refugees to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The committee strongly recommended that a Permanent Resident Certificate, voting rights and a Rs30 lakh package per family for WPRs and other displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
It also recommended that the Government of India take up the matter of de-freezing the eight seats reserved for displaced persons from PoK with the Jammu & Kashmir Government, keeping in view, the problems faced by PoK refugees. It also sought reservation for the WPRs and over 10 lakh PoK refugees in the Upper and the Lower Houses of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislature. Already, 24 seats are reserved for PoK refugees in the 111-member Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly. The committee made these democratic and rational recommendations after due deliberations and visits to the camps of WPRs. The committee interacted with the leadership of the organisations of the PoK displaced persons.
In 1987, the Supreme Court had also appreciated the problems faced by the WPRs, but it did not give any relief to them in view of the State's separate status. Disposing off the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 7698 of 1982 on February 20, 1987, the Supreme Court had, inter-alia, said: "In view of the peculiar constitutional position obtaining in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, we do not see what possible relief we can give to the petitioner (Mr Bachan Lal) and those situated like him.
All that we can say is that, the position of the petitioner and those like him is anomalous and it is up to the legislature of the State of Jammu & Kashmir to take action to amend legislations, such as the J&K Representation of the People Act, the Land Alienation Act, the Village Panchayat Act, etc so as to make persons like the petitioner who have migrated from West Pakistan in 1947 and who have settled in the State of J&K since then, eligible to be included in the electoral roll, to acquire land, to be elected to the panchayat...".The apex court also said: "The petitioners have a justifiable grievance. Surely they are entitled to expect to be protected by the State of J&K. In the peculiar context of the State of J&K, the Union of India also owes an obligation to make some provisions for the advancement of the cultural, economic and educational rights of these persons. We do hope that the claims of the persons like the petitioner and others to exercise greater rights of citizenship will receive due consideration from the Union of India and the State of J&K. We are, however, unable to give any relief to the petitioner".
However, neither the Government of India nor the successive Kashmiri-dominated and Valley-centric Governments in the State did anything whatsoever to appreciate the Supreme Court judgement or mitigate the hardships of the WPRs. On the contrary, the successive Governments in the State did all that they could to defeat the just hopes and aspirations of the WPRs. As a result, the latter held several massive demonstrations in Jammu and Delhi, organised many long marches, and even clashed with the police umpteen times after 1987 to force the powers-that-be to grant them citizenship rights so that they can also lead a dignified life like other State subjects in J&K.
It was their relentless struggle, plus the political compulsions of the Congress in Jammu Province, its core constituency, that compelled the Congress-led UPA Government to constitute a joint parliamentary committee four years ago to look into the issues confronting the WPRs and make suitable recommendations to bring them at par with others in the country, including J&K. Remember, the WPRs enjoy the right to vote in the general election. The UPA Government-appointed committee, which was headed by BJP leader and Member of Rajya Sabha Venkaiah Naidu, did some good work, but could not complete the job, as the Election Commission enforced the Model Code of Conduct in April 2014, in view of the Lok Sabha election.
The argument of anti-WPRs activists that the grant of citizenship rights will change the demography of the Kashmir Valley and destroy the Muslim-majority character of the State is as spurious as it is gravely provocative, divisive, and utterly unacceptable. WPRs are as much Indians as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the millions who migrated to this country during Partition. Now that the joint parliamentary committee has made definite recommendations, the Union Government must dismiss the Kashmiri argument and implement the report in full. Courtesy: The Pioneer |
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