Shah promises citizenship to West Pakistan refugees

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 4

The BJP today promised that citizenship rights would be granted to the West Pakistani 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 Pakistani refugees which called on him at New Delhi to apprise him of their “unending” woes.

The West Pakistani 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 Pakistani refugees”.

“The BJP national president is aware of our unending miseries,” Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee (WPRAC), told The Tribune over phone from Delhi. Gandhi, who led the six-member delegation to meet Shah, said the meeting with the BJP national president was held in a cordial atmosphere. Shah told them that the BJP leadership was aware of the miseries of refugees and addressing their grievances was a priority of the party.

Quoting Shah, the WPRAC chairman said, “The BJP national president has reiterated the commitment of his party towards granting citizenship rights to West Pakistani refugees and sought just six months to get all our problems solved”.

Just two days ago, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh had said that the BJP would convince the state government to implement recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to address grievances of all refugees, including West Pakistani refugees. The JPC had recommended citizenship rights to West Pakistani refugees and one-time compensation to them.

Gandhi said the delegation had drawn Shah’s attention to the recommendations of the JPC to strengthen their case for citizenship rights. “After the JPC recommendations, there is no reason for any political party across the country to oppose our demands,” Gandhi added.

Main Demands of West Pakistani refugees

*Entitlement for getting Permanent Resident Certificate like other citizens of J&K

*Rehabilitation of all West Pakistani refugees living in Jammu and Kashmir since 1947.

*Compensation for all West Pakistani refugees who had left their property in Pakistan after Partition.

*Voting right in elections to Assembly, civic bodies and panchayats.