DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
JAMMU, Dec 5
A special Parlimantary session w.e.f 4th Dec., 2023 has been convened and it is understood that the bill for constitution of Assembly for UTJK including proposing TWO assembly seats for Kashmiri Migrants and ONE seat for DP’s from POJK of 1947 & 1965 & 71 by nomination will also be taken up in ensuing session. The POJK DPs are the first saviors of J&K state, fought the Pak Army/Tribal raiders to defend the State and faced genocide sacrificing more than 70,000 lives, dislocation, struggle, misery etc. for more than seven decades are being ignored. In 1947 before the Indian Army landed in Srinagar raiders had killed more than 4000 DPs in the valley only apart from those killed in POJK. During the 1971-Indo Pak war GOI handed over some areasto Pakistan for strategic reasons and thousands of the residents were displaced from their homes and hearth.
These DPs with a populace of around 16 lakhs (65% Hindus and 35% Sikhs) are living in Jammu province mostly on the IB and LOC all along INDO-PAK border from Poonch to Kathua districts. These DPs have been suffering from the off and on cross-border-firing and violations of cease fire all these years resulting in loss of humans as well as cattle and damage to property. These DPS have been struggling for permanent Relief & Rehabilitation since last seventy five years. Deptt. Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, GOI vide its report No. 183 dt. 22nd Dec 2014 making clear recommendation to give 3-eight Assembly Seats to these DPs viti para 3.2.2 on page 24 under caption “Defreezeing of Seats in Legislative Assembly”. Unfortunately not even a single recommendation of the report has been implemented till date. The number of family units of DPs of 1947 being in the 3rd and 4th generation has grown 12-15 times and the number of DPs families units today is around 4,50,000-5,00,000. The Kashmiri Migrants have been allowed 2-assembly seats for mere 1,58,000 souls of Migrants only on the analogy of dislocation though their constituency segments are very much in India, as such not giving 10-12 seats for more than 16-lakh souls of POJK DPs will only go against justice and the spirit of our constitution and equality. the govt have all along supressed our constitutional right of representation as if not concerned.
All for POJK DPS and appeared intended to give such vacant seats only to people presently residing in POJK. The Confedratiron has high hopes from Honble PM Modi ji to give the DPs justice and fulfill the demand. It would be worthwhile to mention that the DPs voters being placed scattered around in Jammu province have deciding votes in about 25-assembly segments and 2-two Palimantary segments It is strongly demanded that the bill should be modified to meet the rightful and justified aspiration of DPs of 1947, 65 and ’71 from POJK and Chhamb.
