news details |
|
|
| Government says no to citizenship of WPRs | | Major blow to BJP | | Saqib Junaid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, June 22: In a major blow to the ruling BJP, government on Wednesday ruled out permanent citizenship to West Pakistan refugees in the state.
The BJP, which is a part of the coalition government in the state had promised of granting permanent citizenship to West Pakistan refugees and was a poll plank for the party in Parliamentary and Assembly elections.
However, government on Wednesday said it has no plan to give permanent citizenship to the refugees belonging to West Pakistan even though they are the citizens of the country.
"Government has no plan to give permanent citizenship to the refugees belonging to West Pakistan though they are the citizens of the country," said Minister, in reply to the written question of independent MLA.
"All the DPs who got displaced from (PoK) Pakistan occupied Kashmir being the part of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir are permanent residents of the state. However the refugees who came from the area which became West Pakistan are not permanent resident of J&K," he said.
About the particulars of refugees serving in government departments, the minister said no West Pakistan refugee has been appointed in any government department.
"West Pakistani refugees are not considered for appointment against any State government post because they are not permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir," the minister said.
Giving figures of the refugees, the minister said that 31,619 Displaces Persons of Pakistani occupied Jammu and Kashmir and 5,764West Pakistani refugees have settled in Jammu region of the state.
He further said that as many as 3500, 4600, 1965 Chhamb refugees of 1965, 1971 (camp), 1971 (non-camp), respectively, are residing in Jammu region, making the total number of refugees to 47448.
Last year, the BJP President Amit Shah had promised in May that citizenship rights would be granted to the West Pakistan refugees within six months notwithstanding the strong objections raised by separatists and other radical groups of the Kashmir valley to this long-pending demand.
This assurance was given by party national president Amit Shah to a group of West Pakistan refugees which called on him at New Delhi to apprise him of their "unending" woes.
The West Pakistan refugees, camping in the Jammu region since 1947, have been agitating to get citizenship rights but the Kashmir-centric groups have been vociferously opposing their demand.
The granting of citizenship rights for the refugees was a bone of contention between the coalition partners PDP and BJP. In the "Agenda for the Alliance", the coalition had promised to "take measures for sustenance and livelihood of the West Pakistan refugees".
Main Demands of West Pakistani refugees have been entitlement for getting Permanent Resident Certificate like other citizens of J&K, rehabilitation of all West Pakistan refugees living in Jammu and Kashmir since 1947, compensation for all West Pakistan refugees who had left their property in Pakistan after Partition and voting right in elections to Assembly, civic bodies and panchayats. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
