Logically, it sounded untenable and unsustainable that there should be any discrimination with any of the vast sections of the people living along our borders with Pakistan so far as providing of any special facilities were concerned. Our borders with Pakistan, as is fairly known, are categorized into two segments, viz; Line of Control and the International Border. Line of Control is a de- facto border shared between India and Pakistan in respect of the State of Jammu and Kashmir as a large part of the State is under illegal occupation of Pakistan since 1947-48 while International Border is having the status of being there as per an agreement between the two countries.
At both these types of borders with Pakistan, our people living along have been facing direct brunt of the litany of hostilities and acts of aggression from our belligerent neighbor, intermittently. To mitigate, if not fully obviate, the extent of such difficulties faced by them , the scheme of providing facilities of reservation is one such major step but due to reasons not known , the wisdom of successive Central and State Governments had it utilized half way by differentiating between the people living along both these types of borders and exclusively enjoyed by the ones living along LoC which is now set to be streamlined by adopting natural justice of parity between both these segments.
In this connection, the Central Government has advised the State Government on these lines with intent to act and approve reservations for the people living along the IB on the principle of equatability and parity with those of the LoC. With this decision, a major one indeed in the context, was going to benefit hundreds of thousands of people living along 198 kms International Border in three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua in Jammu region. The people belonging to IB area stand to get their right now which had been denied to them for decades, most probably because of pre- conceived but avoidable notion, nursed primarily due to the fact that all the three districts having international boundary with Pakistan fell in Jammu region.
Noteworthy feature of the entire gamut of providing reservation facilities to the border dwellers is that Pakistan is rabidly at numerous occasions in the habit of resorting to unprovoked shelling and firing on this side of the borders without making any discrimination between these borders. As a result, our people have been suffering along both these types of borders but the sagacity and acuity of the successive Governments were confined to the people living on the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts and some parts of Jammu district like Akhnoor and in Kashmir valley – Baramulla and Kupwara districts spread over 285 villages.
People living in these districts have been getting reservations in the State Government jobs, educational institutions and professional colleges but these benefits were denied to the people living along the IB for several years and all pleas in respect of the vital issue were conveniently but unjustifiably unheard and not acceded to. The efforts of the Union Minister of State in the PMO’s office and the Union Home Minister, however, are notable in resolving this issue notwithstanding the fact that justice imparted late is better than justice absolutely denied.
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