JK News Today Special Commentary
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had made a promise to deliver justice to the West Pakistan Refugees who had been denied citizenship rights to grow as equal citizens of the country in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir where they had been living for over seven decades. That was his pledge on August 5, 2019, the day Article 370 was removed from the Indian constitution once and for all. He delivered it to them beyond their expectations.
They have been given the proprietary rights on the state land in Jammu and Kashmir, making them full-fledged citizens, who can have shelter above their head, plan some jobs and future for their children in schools, colleges, universities and professional institutions as also a clear access to the government and other jobs. It has come as a dream come true for them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah made this possible as the state administrative council meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday approved their proprietary rights on the state land. PM and Home Minister had been pushing and pressing for this to dignify the lives of the West Pakistan Refugees. They have fulfilled a commitment to humanitarian issue of these refugees.
A piece of land to them has made them feel and breathe like citizens of a free country and the largest democracy in the world. Until August 5, 2019 happened, they were living like unnamed slaves. PM Modi and Amit Shah have liberated them from the shackles of nightmares of the past.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the Central government has made West Pakistan Refugees full-fledged citizens. First they got domicile certificate making them equal to the erstwhile permanent resident certificate holders of J&K, who had propelled themselves to the highest pedestal in the system because of their special privileges and rights. The PRC or the state subject holders in the erstwhile state of J&K were having all the exclusive rights from cradle to grave, but WPRs who came to Jammu region under horrible circumstances of the Partition from Sialkot and other areas which are now in Pakistan. were treated as sub humans in Jammu and Kashmir, as they were given no rights or basic amenities. The treatment meted out to them was worse than the prisoners of war.
For all the governments in Jammu and Kashmir, dominated by the political groups which always spread a propaganda that if the WPRs were given the citizenship rights as available to the permanent residents, natives by birth of Jammu and Kashmir, that would open floodgates for outsiders to enter and settle in J&K, and that granting any rights to these refugees would change the Muslim-majority character of the state and undermine the sanctity of the citizenship rights of the locals. This was a deception, because the number of West Pakistan Refugees was too small to make any difference to the overall Muslim-majority character. Their number was less than 50,000. And over the years, many of them died in the seven decades. They were shy of producing children for they saw no future for them in a state that wanted to get rid of them.
The WPRs had only one right- to vote in the Parliament elections. That was less of a right for them, and more as a source of their exploitation. The parties exploited them, made huge promises but never returned to deliver them. They were captive vote bank for the parties till the date Article 370’s removal made them to see hope in their lives. First, they were given domicile certificates as were given to the erstwhile permanent residents, ending all the legal and constitutional differences between them and the state subject holders. The WPRs never had state subject, a document that defined the citizenship of the permanent residents of J&K, but after the abrogation of Article 370 the state subject became redundant, as the PRC holders also had to obtain the domicile certificate to establish, or so to say, re-establish their identity.
The WPRs have expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for transforming their lives. they have something to look forward to in their lives- light has come to them after decades of darkness.
