Rekha Chowdhary
With reference to the West Pakistan Refugees settled in J&K state, the Joint Parliamentary Committee has recently recommended that the Government of India must impress upon the State Government to consider sympathetically their demand to grant them the status of permanent resident of the state so that the can enjoy all the legal and political rights including the right to vote and the right to be elected. The Committee clearly specified that this be one time measure meant for this class of people only. It noted with concern that despite being the Indian citizens, they do not enjoy the right to franchise vis-a-vis the legislative assembly of the state, only on the ground that they are not the permanent residents of the state.
The recommendation has generated much heat in the Valley. The political class, across the ideological divide, whether belonging to mainstream politics or the separatist politics, has reacted very strongly. In their understanding, this recommendations is violative of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. They argue that granting the status of permanent residents to the West Pakistan refugees would amount to the demographic change. Most of them, therefore have warned of serious consequences of the pursuance of this recommendation.
The response is very mechanical and does not take into consideration the humanitarian angle underlying the problems of these refugees. The West Pakistan Refugees were dislocated from their homeland during the time of partition and came to settle in different parts of Jammu division. Since most of them came from outside the state, from Punjab, mostly from the adjoining Sialkot area, they were not given the status of permanent residents of the state.
The status of the permanent residents is defined by section 6 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and includes only those persons who were either citizens of state of class I (born and residing within the state before the commencement of the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh and those settled before the samovar year 1942) or class II (those who permanently settled within the state and acquired immovable property her before the close of samvat year of 1968). Since these refugees did not fall under either of the two categories, they are denied the right of being the permanent residents of the state.
In practical terms, the denial of this right had severe implications. They have also been deprived were of various privileges which are attached with the status of Permanent residers. They cannot therefore hold property within the state in their own name. They cannot seek state employment. They are denied the benefit of social welfare policies. But most crucially they cannot participate in the local and state level politics.
To participate in the local elections, including the State Assembly elections and the Panchayat election, one must be the permanent resident of the state. However, since the West Pakistan refugees are not the permanent residents, they can participate only in the Parliamentary elections . They are not on the electoral rolls for the local level elections. Hence they cannot either vote nor can contest in the Legislative Assembly, Panchayat or Municipal elections. A very significant political right which is available to all Indian citizens – the right to representation, is therefore denied to them.
For the last six and half decades, the West Pakistan refugees have been struggling to enjoy their basic rights and have taken recourse to agitations, lobbying as well as adjudication. But they have not succeeded in getting relief from the state. Their misery is aggravated by the fact that most of them are located in the periphery of the society and are quite low in the economic and social ladder. A large chunk of them are comprised of the Scheduled castes and OBCs. Since they are not the permanent residents of the state, they cannot make claims to the various social welfare policies of the state. They face double marginalisation, facing the discrimination from the society and also being denied the benefits which are meant for the socially deprived sections of society. They are also politically neglected since no local level elected representative represents them.
Most of the West Pakistan refugees who settled in other parts of India, were duly compensated and rehabilitated. But since these refugees continued to stay on within J&K, the process of their rehabilitation could not take place.
From all perspectives, it is a humanitarian problem and cannot be seen as a ‘grand conspiracy’ to change the demography of the state. Having lived in the state for three generations now, they cannot find roots in any other part of the country. And yet they cannot be living with perpetual denial of their rights.
The way their issue is being projected, it has the potential to generate inter-regional strife. While positions are being taken in Kashmir, counter positions are being taken in Jammu as well.
Politicising the issue, however, would not be fair to the principle of justice. In the ensuing politics, the very problem may be sidelined. The West Pakistan Refugees have been waiting for last six and half decades to be rehabilitated and should not be asked to wait for more time. What is required is an objective understanding of their problem and a humanitarian approach to deal with it with empathy.
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