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| POJK Displaced Persons Intellectual Forum congratulates Punjabi Morcha, raises pending demands | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 17: The All J&K POJK 1947 Displaced Persons Intellectual Forum held a meeting of its core committee members under the presidentship of Advocate Amrik Singh, with the participation of General Secretary S. Kuldeep Singh and other prominent personalities.
At the outset, the Forum congratulated the Punjabi-speaking people of Jammu and Kashmir for their dedicated efforts in the ongoing Punjabi Language Morcha at Maharaja Hari Singh Chowk, Jammu, which achieved a breakthrough with the receipt of a commitment letter from the J&K Government.
The Forum also thanked the government led by Omar Abdullah for considering the demand for official status for the Punjabi language. It congratulated former Minister Manjit Singh and T. S. Tony for leading the morcha peacefully and sincerely.
Addressing the meeting, Advocate Amrik Singh said that the matter did not end with the achievement of the Punjabi language demand, as several important issues concerning the displaced persons of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) from 1947 remained unresolved.
He highlighted three major demands of the Forum. First, he called for the release of the pending ex-gratia amount of Rs 24.5 lakh, reportedly recommended by the then state government. He referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement at an election rally in Akhnoor in 2024 regarding the release of the remaining amount and expressed hope that the commitment would be fulfilled.
Second, the Forum demanded ST-2 status for Pahari-speaking people living in Jammu and other areas who were displaced from POJK in 1947.
Third, it demanded the defreezing of 12 Assembly seats out of the 24 seats reserved for POJK, urging that the issue be taken up in the next Parliament session along with the Reorganisation Bill.
The Forum appealed to the Union and J&K governments to address these demands at the earliest.
Those who attended and spoke included S. Paramjit Singh, former Corporator; S. Inder Singh, former Corporator; S. Suchs Singh, former Corporator; S. Nasib Singh, Vice-President; Dr. Surjit Singh, Joint Secretary; S. Paramjit Singh Shingari; Prof. K. D. Singh; Er. T. K. Sharma; Romesh Gandhi; Sudesh Sharma; Mela Ram, former SP, J&K Police; S. Avtar Singh, former pilot; Jagdish Chand; S. Bhajan Singh; S. Manjit Singh; S. Prehlad Singh and others. |
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