West Pak refugees denied rights, continue to suffer

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Suray Chak (Tawi Island), June 20

During Partition in 1947, Biro Devi, now in her eighties, and her family were forced to leave their home and hearth in Sialkot, which is now part of Pakistan.

The family has been camping at Suray Chak village on the bank of the Tawi since 1947 but does not have the rights of a J&K resident. They cannot own property in the state, get government job or own a ration card. They have been struggling for a dignified life, but to no avail because the political class across the state has failed to solve their problem.

Three generations of the refugees have been denied basic human rights such as right to citizenship, employment, education and ownership of property. They also have no voting rights.

The refugees who crossed over to J&K from Sialkot in 1947 are called West Pakistani refugees and a majority of them are Dalits.

“We are helpless. What can we do? Political parties across the country lack guts to withstand threats from separatist groups and other Kashmir-centric parties,” said Labha Ram Gandhi, leader of the West Pakistani refugees.

Interestingly, those opposing rights to the refugees claim that granting citizenship to them will change the demography of J&K.

As per official data, there are 5,764 West Pakistan refugee families comprising 47,215 persons and are settled in various areas of Jammu. Today, their number is around 1.5 lakh but separatist groups in the Valley say that giving them constitutional rights will change the demography of the state.

Another category of refugees, who had migrated from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) in 1947 and escaped from the attacks of raiders, have a similar story as that of the West Pakistan refugees.

However, unlike West Pakistani refugees, the PoJK refugees are entitled to Permanent Resident Certificate, commonly known as state subject. They belonged to those areas of J&K which were part of the princely state but are now under the occupation of Pakistan.

Despite repeated assurances by the successive government to solve their problem, the refugees continue to suffer.

The refugees demand that they should be given the refugee status so that they are provided all benefits under national and international laws.

Another category of refugees are those who got affected due to the successive wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971 from the Chhamb area of Jammu. They are Chhamb displaced persons of 1965, 1971 (camp) and 1971 (non-camp).