STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Accusing government of reducing the problems of J&K people to a perception of ‘mere Kashmir problem’, the ‘S. O. S. International’—a frontline organization of PoJK Displaced Persons– blamed the government at the Centre for completely crushing the age-old movement of PoJK refugees under its ill-conceived intentions.
During a refugee awareness rally called by S. O. S. International, the only registered organization of refugees of Mirpur, Pallandri, Bagh, Kotli, Bhimber, Chhamb, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit under the chairmanship of Rajiv Chuni here on Sunday, it was alleged that the government has taken away all rights of refugees vis-a-vis land, property, job, language, clan, tribe, ethnicity, political empowerment, education under a well-thought of plan to crush their movement.
“In October 2014, the then cabinet of the Jammu and Kashmir government had approved a comprehensive package for the displaced persons of PoJK. The package was an outcome of the decades-long struggle of community leaders. We demand that the Government of India should religiously and in-principle fulfill the package, announced for PoJK refugees before the formation of the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2014, without any further delay,” Chuni said while addressing a large rally.
He further said, “This package included Rs 25 lakh compensation for each PoJK community family, reservation in professional and technical colleges of the country for our youths and a provision of creation of 8500 jobs for the youths belonging to PoJK community. Unfortunately, the BJP leadership in Jammu and Kashmir has never bothered to utter a single word about this package and they continue to maintain a cryptic silence over it”.
He also demanded that all 5,300 PoK displaced families settled outside Jammu and Kashmir should be brought into the ambit of the package passed for PoJK refugees by the then J&K government in October 2014. “We failed to understand the rationale behind the exclusion of these families from the ambit of the relief package. They have not committed any crime or sin and they need to be treated at par with other PoJK displaced persons staying in Jammu and Kashmir,” Chuni said.
The senior refugee leader also took a dig at the Centre for reserving a single seat for the displaced PoJK people and described it as “humiliating” and “insulting” for a community of 17 lakh people.
Chuni termed it a “grave injustice” with the displaced PoJK people, saying “the people displaced from Kashmir has a total population of 1.57 lakh (as per the statement of Union Home Minister in the Parliament) and they have been allotted two seats while the PoJK community of 17 lakh people have been meted out to grave injustice and humiliation when only one seat has been reserved for them”.
“Instead of ensuring political empowerment of PoJK displaced persons who have remained the victim of decades-long turmoil, the Centre has tried to rub salt on their wounds by reserving a single seat for them in J&K Assembly. The PoJK DPs had been demanding eight seats in J&K legislative assembly for decades and it had been strongly recommended by various Commissions and Committees over the years but the ruling dispensation at the Centre played a cruel joke on PoJK displaced persons,” the senior refugee leader said.
The refugee leader also demanded that the PoJK displaced persons living in Jammu and Kashmir be allowed to visit their religious shrines including temples and Gurdwaras in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
“An attempt is being made to give control of Sharda Peeth Shrine in PoJK to the people who had never been associated with the shrine before the migration in Kashmir Valley. The real stakeholders including the displaced PoJK persons from Mirpur, Pallandri, Bagh, Kotli, Bhimber, Chhamb and Muzaffarabad have kept out of the purview of Sharda Peeth Shrine which is quite unfortunate,” he said.
He also asked the displaced PoJK refugees to get ready for a decisive battle for the fulfillment of their legitimate rights. He also warned the BJP-led Centre government to meet all genuine demands of the displaced persons before the Lok Sabha elections or else be ready to face wrath of lakhs of PoJK refugee voters. Others who addressed gathering includes; Prof. NN Sharma, VK Datta, Bhai Ram Singh, Jagjit Singh, Prof. Suresh Gupta, Prof. PP Raina, Ved Raj Bali, Daleep Singh Chib, Daleep Sharma, Sanjeev Kumar & Prateek Raina.
