Avtar Bhat
NEW DELHI, Sept 22: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has taken serious exception to denial of rights to West Pakistan refugees in J&K who took refuge in the state after the partition of undivided India in 1947.
In its separate letters to Union Minister of Home, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah and Chief Secretary of J&K, Madhav Lal, Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr Raj Kumar Verka has made a reference to the letter written to the Commission by BJP MP and Party’s Human Rights Cell in charge, Avinash Rai Khanna regarding injustice and unethical system adopted by the State Government against these refugees residing in J&K since 1947.
Terming the matter of very serious nature, the Commission said this amounts to denial of rights to majority of Scheduled Castes in the State as the maximum number of these refugees belong to SC Community.
In its letters to Union Home Minister and State Chief Minister the Commission has expressed the hope that they would look into the matter personally and provide justice to these hapless SC refugees residing in J&K. It sought immediate action on the part of Union Home Minister as well as Chief Minister of the state in the matter.
It may be recalled that Mr Khanna who has persuaded the cause of these refugees and also led their massive demonstration outside Parliament last year has written a letter to the Commission on September 6 highlighting the plight of the West Pak refugees in J&K and termed the denial of rights to these refugees as human rights violation on the part of State Government. He while quoting the reports said that these refugees face difficulty to marry their children.
Mr Khanna in his letter addressed to Vice Chairman of the Commission has alleged that these hapless refugees were suffering due to the apathetic attitude of Central Government as well as State Government for years together.
The letter further said that the refugees who have migrated from Pakistan and had settled in other states of India except J&K have been given all the rights what so ever but the refugees residing in J&K are even not given Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) which is a continuous human rights violation on the part of Union as well as state Government.
Mr Khanna in his letter also alleged that the Constitutional rights of these hapless refugees have also been violated by both the governments. He said as the majority of these refugees belong to SC Community hence the Commission should look into this issue, take cognizance of the matter and seek justice for these refugees under law.
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