JAMMU, Sep 18: A 50-member delegation of 1947 displaced persons (DPs) from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), representing different parts of Jammu province, will proceed to New Delhi to stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar on September 22 under the banner of the Jammu Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee (JKSAC). The delegation will highlight the long-pending rehabilitation issues of the displaced persons and seek their comprehensive settlement. It will also meet and apprise national political leaders of continuing injustice faced by the DP community in matters related to rehabilitation.
The delegation has also sought constitution of a sub-cabinet committee headed by a senior Union Cabinet Minister, comprising the concerned minister from the J&K Government, along with representatives of JKSAC and other sister organisations. The committee, according to the organisation, should take up the issues with the Central Government and pursue acceptance and implementation of JPC on Home Affairs Report No. 183, which the JKSAC considers a viable roadmap for settlement of the displaced persons until PoJK is liberated and their losses are registered.
Addressing media persons, JKSAC President Gurdev Singh, along with other senior leaders Capt. Puran Singh Chib, Tarlok Singh Tara, V.K. Sudan, Tarsem Singh Chib, Rajesh Khajuria and Harpreet Singh said the organisation had consistently pursued the issues of displaced persons through peaceful and democratic means for several decades. He said various initiatives had been undertaken to ensure that the collective voice of the DP community reached the appropriate forums of the government.
Gurdev Singh said the recently concluded year-long signature campaign reflected the collective aspirations and concerns of the displaced persons. He said the signatures had been compiled in the form of a book, which the delegation proposes to submit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah during proposed meetings in New Delhi on September 21. He said the request regarding the proposed meetings had already been communicated. During the proposed interaction, the delegation would submit a detailed memorandum titled “Hamari Awaaz Suno”, highlighting the long-standing concerns of 1947 PoJK displaced persons.
According to the JKSAC, these demands include one-time ex-gratia relief of Rs 30 lakh until PoJK is liberated, registration of their claims, de-freezing of their constitutional share of Assembly seats, and reservation/issuance of ST-2 category certificates to DP wards within and outside J&K, besides other components referred to in JPC Report No. 183. He said the DP community had carried the consequences of displacement for nearly eight decades. Despite being a significant and widespread community in the Jammu region, he said, displaced persons continued to seek a permanent, dignified and comprehensive settlement of their concerns.
He maintained that the displaced persons from PoJK had made an important contribution to the development of J&K despite having lost their ancestral homes, properties, livelihoods and loved ones during displacement. “The DP community does not want charity from the government, but seeks justice, recognition, equality and a dignified settlement commensurate with the sacrifices made by the first generation and the hardships endured by successive generations,” he said.
Gurdev Singh said the DP community continued to have faith in the Government of India and hoped that, after more than seven decades, its long-standing grievances would receive a comprehensive and just resolution.
The JKSAC delegation made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to treat the issues of the displaced persons as a matter of national responsibility and humanitarian justice and establish a time-bound institutional mechanism for their final resolution.