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| Mr Abdullah, Pak refugees in Jammu are not foreigners | | Domicile row | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 23: That separatists in Kashmir would protest the Government of India's decision to ask Jammu & Kashmir Government to issue domicile certificates (not Permanent Resident Certificates) to the Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan was a foregone conclusion.
That the Kashmir-based pro-autonomy National Conference (NC) would also oppose the decision was also a foregone conclusion considering its past track record. But that the NC would dub these refugees, who have been residing in Jammu, and not in Kashmir and Ladakh, since their migration in 1947 will call them foreigners was not really expected but it did exactly that. It called them foreigners and demanded their settlement outside the state, saying their settlement in Jammu constituted an attack on the state's separate character or the state's Muslim-majority character.
Opposing the decision of the Union Government, senior NC general secretary and former Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar has said: "The NC is not against West Pakistan refugees. We are not against them, but they cannot become state subjects because they are foreigners".
"This move is aimed at changing demography of Jammu and Kashmir. They (BJP) want to reduce the Muslim majority of the State into minority…New Delhi is calling shots in Kashmir. We feel pity on Mehbooba Mufti's helplessness before State BJP and Centre. The BJP's candid admission that the move will pave the way for granting state subject rights to West Pakistan refugees, exposes the nefarious designs behind the move," he also said.
By terming the Pakistan refugees as foreigners and suggesting their expulsion from Jammu and settlement outside the state, the NC leadership has only demonstrated their insensitivity and complete disregard for humanity. How could the NC call them foreigners when they are the Indian nationals participating in the general elections since 1967? They have been living not in Pakistan but in India of which Jammu & Kashmir is a constituent unit - a fact which was recognized unambiguously by the highest court of law in the country, the Supreme Court, only last week on December 16 while delivering a historic judgement on the status of Jammu & Kashmir and the people who inhabit this state.
The Supreme Court in its judgement said many things but three were very very significant. One, Jammu & Kashmir Constitution is subordinate to the Indian Constitution. Two, the people of Jammu & Kashmir are not a separate block. Three, the state government can't prevent the Centre from applying its laws to the state. The stand taken by the NC on the refugees from Pakistan is, in fact, an act of contempt of the court.
It is pity that there are parties which are insensitive and highly communal. There is no doubt that the people of Jammu province would avenge this insult done to the hapless refugees from Pakistan. |
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