Ronik Sharma (Advocate)
In the past more than eight years, the Central Government, under the charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has exhibited impressive sincerity and concern for addressing a variety of social issues in Jammu and Kashmir as well as resolving the various problems of the general populace that went unnoticed during the period of successive governments for unknown reasons. The 1947 Displaced Persons of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK DPs), who reside in Jammu and Kashmir and other states throughout the country, have fought for their rightful demands for a long time and are still doing so. Their situation did not improve during the tenures of successive state governments or central governments. One of the major aspects that has remained unattended since the post-displacement of the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir displaced persons is the resettlement and rehabilitation of the elderly and infirm, the young generation, women, widows, orphans, etc. During the post-displacement period, the welfare measures were in poor condition. Various welfare programmes in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir were unnoticed and neglected as a result of the careless approach of the then government. All of these circumstances led to the dispersal of a significant portion of society, forcing some to seek safety in different locations in Jammu, while others who received no assistance were compelled to flee the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. In order to ensure their own survival as well as the survival of future generations, the displaced people from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir had to face a harsh life across the nation. In one of the sad stories of Purshotam Lal Gupta (whose family is currently in Delhi), a victim of displacement from Mirpur (POJK), he was born in Mirpur Khas in 1926.
He passed his F.A. there and became the head teacher of a school in Mirpur. He also got married there and had a son, who was one year old at the time of his displacement in 1947. On November 25, 1947, which is called Mirpur Fall Day, suddenly the Pakistan Army in civil uniform attacked Mirpur. Immediately, there was uproar everywhere. The Pakistani army had explosives with them. They were throwing it on houses, and houses were burned immediately. After this chaotic situation, he and his family left their house in Mirpur immediately. He had money in his folded shirt arm. His family stepped out on any side where they found a path. On the way, they ran into some relatives and acquaintances. So they joined them and kept walking, carrying his one-year-old son. They encountered numerous difficulties along the way. They also saw that some of their Muslim neighbours and Muslim house helpers, who had lived with them for years, had also joined the Pakistani army. They were kidnapping young girls and women; they even raped some of them and took some of them along with them.
Some of the ladies jumped into the well, and his wife also jumped into the well so that Muslims would not take her along with them. Only a few girls or ladies survived, and the rest were raped, mercilessly killed, thrown into the river or well, or taken along with the attackers. This is considered to be the biggest genocide in the world. In an another story of Om Prakash Saraaf ji who used to live at Murda Gali, in front of Jama Masjid, Mirpur Khas before displacement. He had big three shops of jewelry in addition to other residential properties in Mirpur. In front of him, the Pakistani army, with the support of locals, tied the arms of around 100 young boys to their backsides with a rope, beat them brutally and mercilessly, and threw them half-dead there.He also requested that attackers shoot him with a gun so that he would die immediately rather than suffer from frequent pains, but he later managed to flee the scene. After escaping the clutches of Pakistani army he found a new lease on life. He had also witnessed that the Pakistani army, with the support of locals, was removing the jewellery from the dead bodies in many areas. In the Alibeg Camp, potassium cyanide was being distributed so that people ate it and died immediately. One of his sisters was also kidnapped by the locals for forced marriage. A different tragic tale is that of Bharat Bhushan Gupta, who was just five years old when the Pakistani army began storming Mirpur.
His parents and grandparents told him the story of what happened on November 25, 1947, when many innocent people were murdered in front of them and some of their own family members were also brutally murdered by the assailants while their other family members managed to flee the scene. After finding refuge in various places, they were forced to leave the former state of Jammu and Kashmir for reasons that are still unclear. They arrived in Delhi after a few months. After arriving in Delhi, they spent a significant amount of time working hard to support their children before returning to a regular life. There are numerous other upsetting and painful incidents like this. The terrible reality is that, even after more than seven decades have passed, the coming generations of displaced persons are still contending for their legal, political, constitutional rights and among other things. Even the successive governments in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir acted as stepmothers to the displaced families living outside of Jammu and Kashmir. Even politics was played here, with the statement that the displaced families who are living outside J&K had opted to settle there for their own good.
The J&K Administration, issued a Notification dated May 16, 2020, for registration of displaced person before the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants), Jammu, for the purpose of issuing a domicile certificate to displaced persons living outside J&K. In the absence of any guidelines issued by the J&K Administration, initially, the applications were rejected. Many applications were also rejected three times. Registration for the online portal began on July 22, 2020.Then the functioning became more streamlined. Earlier, the displaced persons living outside J&K were not even considered residents of J&K State because the state government considered that they had opted themselves to settle in other states and Union Territories for their betterment, which was a wrong perception made by the successive government in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. These families suffered compulsion for more than seventy years despite being Jammu and Kashmir’s state subjects. The cause of each of these issues was the same: the failed political leadership or any authority in Jammu and Kashmir never attempted to take care of them. Furthermore, there was never any effort made to find out how these people were doing or to return them to Jammu and Kashmir.
They were disregarded for a very long time because of all these factors. Except a meager ex-gratia payment given in 60s not only to everyone but only to few, no compensation or relief of any kind has ever been given by the Central Government or the Jammu and Kashmir Government to the displaced persons living outside Jammu and Kashmir, and they are still called as “displaced persons.” of Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. With their hard work only, all the displaced families could manage their time. Last but not the least, the present government at the centre should treat the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir displaced persons living outside J&K at par with the displaced persons living within Jammu and Kashmir. The central government as well as the Union Territory Administration must not delay in disbursing the Rehabilitation Package of Rs. 5.5 lakhs to each displaced family who is living outside Jammu and Kashmir, which was already announced by the present government at the center. To address all the concerns of the displaced people residing outside Jammu and Kashmir, it is suggested to establish a nodal authority in Delhi and in Jammu and Kashmir. There should be no delay in the allocation of lands to displaced persons of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who are residing outside of Jammu and Kashmir within Jammu and Kashmir in lieu of the movable and immovable properties left behind due to the forced displacement by Pakistan.
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