Reserve four Assembly seats for Chammb Displaced Persons: Manjit

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 1: Former Minister and leader J&K Apni Party (JKAP), Manjit Singh has demanded reservation of four seats in the J&K Legislative Assembly for Chammb Displaced Persons.
“They were displaced in 1947, 1965 and 1971 war with Pakistan uprooting them from their ancestral land. Their land falling in Chammb area was taken over by Pakistan. Hence, thousands of families lost their land and settled in different places,” said Manjit Singh.
He alleged that then Governments instead of settling them at one place, accommodated them in different places following which they got scattered along the border.
He said that among these displaced persons, Jat community was in majority and they were not allowed to settle in one place even as they pressed for the same but were not facilitated.
“As they were settled in different places, this community was not able to elect their representative so that they could be represented in the Legislative Assembly. They remained powerless, and voiceless,” said Singh.
He said that Chammb was considered as Rural Backward Areas (RBA), adding that the Government should also give them reservation in employment for their upliftment.
“Unfortunately, they could not get propriety rights on the custodian and Government land which was allotted to them. It is high time to accept their long pending demands of the Chammb displaced persons,” Manjit maintained.