West Pak refugees rue decision to settle in J-K

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 22

As residents of the Jammu region have been enthusiastic about the Assembly elections, this “festival of democracy” means nothing to over 25,000 West Pakistan families, which have been deprived of their basic right, the right to vote.

These people had come from West Pakistan at the time of Partition in 1947 and are known as the West Pakistan refugees. They have been living in various areas of the Jammu region.

While the entire state is in the grip of the election fever, the third generation of the refugees is repenting the decision of their grandparents to enter Jammu and Kashmir at the time of Partition.

The West Pakistani refugees have been denied constitutional rights because they had come to Jammu and Kashmir from those areas of Pakistan which were not part of the erstwhile J&K state.

As per data, there are 25,460 West Pakistan families in the Jammu region and 90 per cent of them are the Dalits. These families live in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts.

The West Pakistan refugees have been living in rural areas since 1947 but are outcast as refugees.

“During Partition, my grandfather along with his family had come to Jammu to protect their lives. More than 67 years have passed, but we are still treated as Pakistani guests and denied all constitutional rights,” said Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee (WPRAC).

On Saturday, when brisk polling was going on in the border areas of Hiranagar in Kathua district, the WPRAC was holding a meeting in the town to devise a strategy for launching a final agitation for their rights.

“We are a part and parcel of this village as our family has been living here since 1947, but we have no right to cast vote in the Assembly elections,” said Rajinder Kumar, 24, a resident of Ghagwal village. He said 25 West Pakistan refugee families had been living in the village, but did not have the right to participate in the formation of the state government.

Candidates of political parties have also ignored these “stateless” people because they (refugees) do not have a voting right.

The West Pakistani Refugees cannot vote in the Assembly elections, civic bodies and the panchayat elections.