Friday, March 29, 2024
 
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West Pakistani Refugees - victims of the sectarian politics



By By B L Saraf



There is no end to the miseries of human beings called “perennially“ as West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) living in Jammu ever since partition of the sub-continent. Circumstances are conspiring to condemn them to live – generation after generation – as refugees in a part of the country which before suffering vivisection was their own .Even a small step , contemplated to ameliorate their pitiable plight , activates sectarian politics in Kashmir to defeat them .



State government has decided to issue Identity Certificates to the WPRs which, according to the minister of education “will facilitate them to get jobs in paramilitary forces and other central government establishments. The Identity Certificate is in the same format as exists in the voter list for the Parliamentary polls, it does in no way change their status and they continue to be the non-state subjects .” This decision has sparked a controversy in the Valley, where the separatists and mainstream politicians are up against it, creating an impression that the WPRs are “ being provided domicile certificates .” N C and CPI ( M) describe it a move to dilute the State subject law , separatists see in it a ‘plot ‘ to change the state’s demography .



This is a repeat pattern. year ago , the Joint Parliamentary Committee made recommendation to grant basic rights to the WPRs which stand denied to them, despite living in J&K for sixty five years . Same people were up in arms against this humanitarian move.



Persecuted people of different religious denominations have been living in J&K. Some are of foreign origin like Tibetans and Rohingyas of Myanmar; some victims of the partition and some internally displaced. It is regrettable to measure miseries on the basis of faith of the victim and attempt to comfort them on this parameter. But when some people, in Kashmir, raise objection to the governmental measures taken to provide relief to the sufferer of circumstances, questions could be asked why selective rage and impression of demographic change , only , when it comes to refugees living in Jammu and not in Kashmir . The agitators in Kashmir will be true to the faith in multiculturalism if they learn a lesson from the Jammu residents , who have with exemplary forbearance borne the crushing load of internally displaced , WPRs and displaced from POK . Instead of appreciating Jammu people , some elements appear to be hell bent to test them too much on the issue. While separatists are beyond redemption, people, in general, expect mainstream politicians in the Valley to refrain from stoking the communal fire and see the matter in a right perspective.




We hope that those whose heart bleeds on the slightest transgression on the human rights of some will, for a moment , wear a true human hat and listen to the sympathetic words of Supreme Court on the issue of WPR “ ….The petitioners have a justifiable grievance . We are told that they constitute nearly seven to eight percent of the population of the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Surely they are entitled to expect to be protected by the State of Jammu & Kashmir. In the peculiar context 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 Union of India and the State of Jammu & Kashmir …….” ( Bachan lal Kalgotra v/s State of J&K and others ; A IR 1987 SC 1169 ) . WPRs had moved the Apex Court .




Selective rage , on the basis of faith , is reining principle of the separatists . Education minister has made them conscious of it . Nayeem Akhtar said in the same statement “ Unfortunately earlier this year also controversies were stirred and public passions raised deliberately on tenuous issues like Pundit colonies and Ex Servicemen Colonies which ended up with a long spell of disorder in Kashmir resulting in loss of so many lives ….” Who will tell these gentlemen that there is government order No ; Rev ( Mig ) Rehab / 95 dated 3 . 4 . 1997 , issued by the Revenue Department ; calling up on Deputy Commissioner Jammu to identify 40-50 kanals of land in Sidhra or , Narwal for setting up Muslim Migrant colony in Jammu . No guess , how separatists would have turned Kashmir into hell had such an order been issued to the Deputy Commissioner Srinagar for the settlement of IDPs there . Allegations of bringing in Mossad would fly thick and fast and rehabilitation of Pandits in Valley would, mischievously, be equated with the Jewish settlements in West bank .



No offence in repeating the words of theSupreme Court “…………... All that we can say is that the position of the petitioner and those like him is anomalous and is up to the Legislature of the State of Jammu & Kashmir to take action to amend legislations such as , J &K Representation of People Act , the Land Alienation Act , the Village Panchayat Act etc ; so as to make persons like petitioner who have migrated from West Pakistan in 1947 and who have settled down in State of J & K since then , eligible to be included in the electoral roll , to acquire land and to be elected to the Panchayat etc……… .” (Para5 of the above referred case) . Though circumspect, the Apex Court has acknowledged that the WPR are living in an abnormal situation .


It is prudent to be equitable in dealing with the humanitarian issues of all those whom J& K has given refuge and conjoin the rights , available to them , without any distinction being made on the basis of their faith and belief .



J&K is a veritable volcano. A slight spark will trigger catastrophe of unimaginable proportions, engulfing the whole sub- continent. Everyone, here, is duty bound to avoid path of self –destruction. While regard must be had for the laws which take care of the regional sensibilities and broader contours of centre- state relation, the tendency to weigh everything on the sectarian and parochial measures must be avoided. A room has to be made for the accommodative politics that moves on the path of inter- community reconciliation and allows for a shared space; and does not focus on pure claim of essentialised identity.




(The author is a Former Principal District & Sessions Judge. Feedback- [email protected] )





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