Jammu: Members of the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) refugee community should contest the J&K assembly polls from seats where it has a strong presence, an organisation said on Sunday.
The Supreme Court has directed the central government to conclude the process of conducting the elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. The polls’ schedule is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.
During a demonstration here to draw attention of the government towards the “longstanding and overlooked issues” of the community, SOS International chairperson Rajiv Chuni said, “It was the resolve of today’s rally that the PoJK community should field its own candidates in areas where it has strong presence.”
The organisation works for people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
“It is a valid suggestion but it needs strong wisdom on our part. Political parties know the art of befooling the people…We will have to work wisely and cautiously while executing any such plan,” Chuni said.
He demanded that eight seats in J&K assembly be reserved for the community, and Pahari status be granted to it.
Chuni claimed that the community has never exercised their voting rights “wisely”. “We got swayed by emotions and false promises of political parties which have failed to meet the expectations of our people,” he said.
Successive governments have failed to empower people displaced from PoJK politically, Chuni alleged and claimed that political parties have never taken steps to ensure people from the community get elected to the assembly or Parliament.
The population of Kashmiri migrants is smaller than that of refugees from PoJK, but they have been allocated one seat in the assembly following the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
In the last 10 years, the BJP-led Centre has neglected people displaced from PoJK, he alleged and added that the “‘double engine’ government of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir has written a dark chapter of destruction of PoJK people”.
“There is strong resentment among the refugees and we are left with no options but to start a mass agitation to get our legitimate rights,” Chuni said.
In December 2016, the central government approved a one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5 lakh per family to PoJK refugees, he said.
The recommendation was Rs 25 lakh to each family and reservation to children of refugees in professional colleges, and a special employment package for unemployed educated youth, Chuni claimed.
