Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Sept 4: A large number of West Pakistan refugees today held a mega rally at Swankha Morh near Vijaypur.
Led by Labba Ram Gandhi the protesters alleged that none of the political parties has tried to help the community and have been befooling the people for the last nearly 69 years.
Labba Ram Gandhi, while addressing said that the West Pakistan refugees were migrated from Pak-occupied Kashmir during 1947 and settled in different States of the country including Jammu and Kashmir. He said that West Pakistani refugees settled in other States of India have full fundamental rights granted under Indian Constitution, but those living in J&K, don’t even have right to cast their votes in Assembly elections.
He made an appeal to State and Central Governments to look into the problems of these hapless people who have been deprived of fundamental rights like right to vote and citizenship granted under the Indian Constitution.
Talking to Excelsior Labba Ram Gandhi said that it is a pity that these refugees were deprived of citizenship rights which is a grave human rights violation with them. The All Parties Parliamentary Delegation which is in the State should take cognizance of this and instead of Kashmiris these are the West Pak refugees who are facing the human rights violation through the hands of the Government. “We are even deprived of education and job opportunities”, he added.
Gandhi said the West Pak refugees have even been deprived of Prime Minister’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padao’ and other schemes as our children don’t possess the State subjects. “We have not been given the benefit of even a single scheme like Udaan, admission in professional colleges under PM’s scholarship scheme as for all these schemes the State subjects are demanded which we don’t have”, he added.
The refugee leader said even in recruitment to BSF recently our children who mostly belong toe SC categories can’t apply under the said category as State Government is not issuing the category certificates to us on the pretext that we are not the State subjects. He sought the immediate intervention of Parliamentary delegation towards this important issue.
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