Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 5: Expressing serious concern over no provision of domicile for the Pak occupied J&K families residing in other parts of India, S.O.S International and Movement for Justice for Refugees of 1947 have urged the Government of India to issue necessary amendment in the notification for domicile.
Chairman of the S. O. S. International, Rajiv Chuni has written a letter to the Prime Minister of India for extending the benefit of domicile to these PoJK Displaced Persons on the lines of Kashmiri migrants, who are residing outside J&K for the last more than 15 years.
In his letter to PM, copies of which were also sent to Home Minister, Law & Justice Minister, LG JKUT, Chief Secretary JKUT, Chuni has explained that the domicile provisions have stripped around 3 lakh Displaced Persons of their birthright for being Permanent Resident of J&K. “Because of the condition of either having State Subject or residing in J&K for 15 years, around 15000 PoJK Displace families in various parts of India other than J&K, have suddenly become outsiders notwithstanding they are being natives of J&K even before 1947,” he said.
Informing that these families of Displaced Persons have valid documents of their being permanent residents of erstwhile J&K and they are very much registered with the Provincial Rehabilitation Office of the J&K Government, Chuni has demanded that the benefit of domicile should be extended to these families on the pattern of Kashmiri migrants, who are also staying outside J&K for the more than 15 years.
MJR-47 has also expressed its resentment against the GoI notification for domicile of J&K, which is allegedly discriminatory against the original residents of the erstwhile State, who were uprooted in 1947 from PoK and were given shelter outside J&K.
“As per official figures of GoI, there were 5300 DP families who were settled outside the State and applications of 9500 families for grant of ex-gratia were rejected in 1960-62. These 9,500 cases were rejected on flimsy grounds but were later on accepted vide MOHA GoI order no: – 33/2/97-settlement (Vol. IV) Dt 9th Aug 2000 and were granted cash relief of sorts,” said J S Sudan, Convener of MJR-47 and added that the descendants of these families were fully qualified to be State subjects.
“MJR-47 fails to understand how and why GoI has ignored descendants of these families whereas the Valley migrant families and their newly-born though living outside the J&K for the last thirty years have been included in this order,” he added and appealed the GoI to issue necessary amendments in the notification for domiciles of J&K UT to include all the descendants of these 5300+9500 DP families.
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