Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 14: All India J&K Displaced Persons Association, Haryana, has strongly protested against the latest amendment in Domicile laws in respect of the Union Territory of J&K, which discriminates against the 5300 PoJK families, which were forced to settle in different States of Union of India after partition in 1947.
The Association has also sought s immediate intervention of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi to get the aforesaid laws reviewed and revised to the extent of treating these PoJK displaced families at par with the Kashmiri migrants.
“These 5300 DP families are from Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimbar etc of PoJK, who arrived in Jammu after tribals’ raid in 1947 and were scattered in other States of India. Although the State Government named these people as ‘Displaced Persons from occupied areas of J&K, declared them qualified Permanent Residents of the State with full rights to vote for State Assembly, to acquire property, Government jobs in the State, these families could not return to their home State due to service, livelihood and other similar constraints,” explained Gurmit Singh, general secretary of the Association.
Adding that they had officially been recognized as original and permanent residents of J&K and were granted an ex-gratia payment by the Government of India through Provincial Rehabilitation Officer (PRO) Jammu in 1960-62, he informed that these DPs have also been recognized by the Government of India as original inhabitants of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State.
“However, now these 5300 families are not being treated as domiciles of Union Territory of J&K under the Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020 dated 31st March, 2020 as has been done in the case of Kashmiri migrants,” he lamented .
Appreciating the Government’s decision to protect the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the Association leader said it was beyond comprehension as to why the 5300 displaced families, settled in other parts of the country, have been deprived of their legitimate right of being the domiciles of J&K. “The only request of these families is for equal rights in their own land of Jammu & Kashmir at par with other similarly placed migrants / displaced persons. Any discrimination on the basis of residence in this era of globalization , is inhumane and violative of the laws of the land,” said Gurmit Singh.
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