Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Sept 4: Jammu Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee (JKSAC) Unit district Samba held a meeting of its executive body members and other prominent DPs at village Abtal and reiterated its demand for the grant of ST-2 category status to the Pahari speaking DPs of 1947 from POJK settled in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, Doda etc.
The DPs of the said area are not issued certificates by the designated authorities despite of clarity of rules. The participants strongly condemned the callous and discriminatory attitude of the concerned bureaucracy, continuously in process to create wedge between Pahari speaking ethnic group of 1947 from POJK and the Govt. of J&K.
Speaking in the meeting Gurdev Singh, president alongwith Mittar Pal Singh, president JKSAC Unit Samba. Gurmail Singh vice-president SGPC Samba, Manjeet Singh Sarpanch strongly criticized the divisive and discriminatory policy and said that it has become imperative now to highlight that over 50,000 families migrated from the hilly areas of erstwhile J&K state illegally occupied by Pakistan. These displaced peoples were temporarily rehabilitated by the then Govt. as per the availability of the lands allotted to them under it’s rehabilitation policy in different districts of Jammu region, with the result that these DPs families having same distinct culture, ethnic and linguistic identities of Pahari community/clan, speaking Pahari language were got scattered.
Gurdev Singh said that it is a matter of satisfaction that DPs residing in Poonch and Rajouri have been grated ST-2 status but at the same time strongly criticized the Govt. for its divisive policy and discriminatory attitude that DPs settled in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, Udhampur have being denied the status of ST-2 category. He said that the concerned administrative department has been approached number of times in this regard that why the people residing beyond Rajouri and Poonch are not granted ST-2 status. But unfortunately authorities have no answer.
He warned the Govt. the struggle would be intensified if the issue is not settled before ending 2025. Mittar Pal Singh president JKSAC Unit Samba also spoke on the occasion.
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