Rajouri: S.O.S International-An Organization for PoJK Displaced Persons – has asked the political parties and their candidates contesting from newly carved Anantnag – Rajouri parliamentary seat to clear their stand on nine major demands of refugees failing which they should refrain from seeking their support in the current Lok Sabha poll.
Addressing a large gathering of PoJK displaced persons from Rajouri District during “Rajouri Chalo” rally organized to create awareness among refugees about their electoral strength at Dak Bungalow, Rajouri, the S. O. S. International Chairman Rajiv Chuni said it was high time for all political parties and their contesting candidates to publically announce their full support to all major demands of refugees if they are serious to get nearly 1.5 lakh votes of PoJK displaced persons in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
“The political parties and their candidates must cease making lame excuses, suggesting that endorsing the nine major demands would offend a specific segment of society or other. Such claims hold no merit, as the PoJK displaced persons are integral members of Jammu and Kashmir, sharing common ground and characters with others without any disagreement on pertinent issues. It’s imperative for political leaders to publicly declare their support for our demands if they genuinely seek to secure the crucial 1.5 lakh votes of displaced persons, which will prove decisive,” stated Chuni.
Chuni, who was authorized by the large gathering to devise a strategy over their role in the current Lok Sabha poll in the region, said that every individual displaced person has a concern that the refugee community has been overlooked and discriminated against by successive regimes while political leaders exploited them for their vote bank only. “This time, we won’t tolerate such treatment,” he said.
The nine major demands raised by PoJK displaced persons during “Rajouri Chalo” programme include implementation of the PoJK Refugees package passed by the cabinet of the then Jammu and Kashmir government in 2014 in letter and spirit, reservation of eight seats in Jammu and Kashmir assembly for the displaced people from PoJK areas, providing equal facilities to all the refugees displaced from PoJK on the lines of the displaced people of Kashmir Valley, inclusion of 5,300 PoJK displaced families settled outside the J&K within the ambit of the package passed for PoJK refugees in October 2014, granting Scheduled Tribe status to the entire PoJK refugee community belonging to Pahari clan, tribe and ethnicity for which the PoJK refugee community is fully eligible, allowing PoJK displaced people to visit their religious places located in PoJK, to get back the cash deposited by PoJK refugees in Jammu and Kashmir Bank Mirpur before displacement, formation of Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Poonch and Gilgit scouts to guard the Line of Control to prevent infiltration and restoration of land rights under sections 578 and 254C.
The leader said the PoJK refugees had not been politically empowered. “We are unfortunate people that the seats reserved for PoJK refugees, from where they got displaced, have been frozen. At least eight seats must be reserved in the J&K Assembly for them, enabling their representatives to vociferously raise their legitimate demands in the legislature. Territorial constituencies, crucial for our people to participate in elections, had been non-existent. It was the government’s responsibility to ensure our political empowerment, yet our rights have been unjustly stripped away,” he said.
He further said, “Despite recommendations of several commissions and committees, we have been denied our due share, while Valley Migrants were given two seats in assembly on the basis of just a single recommendation. The Reorganisation Bill has proved the last nail in the coffin as it has virtually ceased our existence. Our land rights have been snatched under a conspiracy without legislative approval”.
Chuni further said, “We want restoration of land rights under sections 578 and 254C.
Both National and Kashmir – based political parties never bothered to raise the genuine issues of PoJK refugees. Our people are also squarely responsible for our plights as they have failed to unite in the fight for our rights”.
Earlier, the large gathering passed a unanimous resolution authorizing the S. O. S. International Chairman Rajiv Chuni to take a call with regard to the participation of PoJK displaced persons in the Lok Sabha poll and their support to a particular political party and its candidates, provided that they publicly support their genuine and legitimate demands.
Chuni said that nearly 1.5 lakh votes of PoJK displaced persons in Rajouri and Poonch districts, which are the part of Anantnag – Rajouri parliamentary seat, will prove to be a decisive factor in the victory of any contesting candidate.
He expressed his gratitude to all the prominent people from different Mohras and villages of Rajouri district for their participation in “Rajouri Chalo” rally and entrusted him with the responsibility of taking a call on the behalf of PoJK refugees to support a particular candidate or political party in the current Lok Sabha polls.
“I am fortunate and grateful that I have been given a big responsibility to take a call on deciding the PoJK displaced persons’ support to a particular political party or candidate provided that they publicly declare their support to all our legitimate demands. I want to assure all the people of my community that I would not breach your trust and will come up to your expectations,” Mr Chuni said.
Others who addressed the gathering are Kewal Ram, V K Datta, Capt Ravinder Raina, Sharda Devi, Rajinder Sharma, Jyoti Swaroop, Susheel Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Subash Sharma, Jagjit Singh, Vijay Guru, Daleep Singh Chib, Balbir Singh, Pritam Sharma, Dheeraj Sharma, Pt. Satish Sharma, Khem Raj, Satinder Dev Gupta, Ved Raj Bali, Gurdeep Kumar, Pt. Sita Ram, Sanjay Choudhary and others.Current News of India (CNI)