E-Paper
Jammu refugees slam their doors on politicians
Refugees from Pakistan who migrated to Jammu during Partition are slamming their doors on politicians promising them full citizenship.
Refugees from Pakistan who migrated to Jammu at the time of Partition are slamming their doors on politicians who come knocking for their votes with a promise to get them full citizenship rights.
For them, this is an all-too-familiar knock on the eve of parliamentary elections. These knocks are absent during assembly or local elections.
This is because they have the right to vote as Indian citizens but not as residents of Jammu and Kashmir. The voters among the refugees number 100,000.
"I'm getting sick of these false promises," said Bachan Lal, a refugee.
The refugees migrated from Pakistan to escape the holocaust associated with the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
They were granted the right to vote, contest election, buy immovable property or get jobs in Jammu and Kashmir because they came from Punjab, now a part of Pakistan.
However, under Jammu and Kashmir's separate constitution, only refugees from the part of the state now under Pakistan's control could claim citizenship rights.
"For the past 57 years, they have not been able to get us our rights. Now they are asking us to vote for them and wait for another five years," fumed Rattan Chand, another refugee.
His anger at political parties is caused by two factors.
"It is not for parliament to grant us citizenship rights. It is the state legislature that has the power to do so by virtue of its separate state constitution.
"And when the assembly elections are held, these politicians never come to us," he bemoaned. "It is true of all political parties and politicians."
Political parties are silent on the problems of the refugees in the assembly because of the sensitivities of the Kashmiris over the issue and no political party wants to risk annoying them.
The refugees are unable to control their anger when they see politicians knocking on their doors at the time of parliamentary elections, as they are conspicuous by their absence during assembly elections.
The refugees settled in the border belt of Ranbirsinghpura and Suchetgarh have reconciled to their fate in the state. They regret the day when they came to Jammu and Kashmir, believing the promises of leaders of the time that they would be given citizenship rights.
That day has not come for them and their wait has transcended to a third generation.
