Jammu: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that “West Pakistan refugees deserve to be treated with dignity.”
“The issue is not only uncivilized, but is also inhuman to make a political issue out of a simple provision for employment sought to be made for them through a document certifying proof of identity,” Dr JItendra said speaking on the sidelines of a function here today.
Dr Jitendra lashed out at the “so-called mainstream opposition parties who have joined hands with the separatists to appease a certain constituency.”
“For 70 years, this section of refugees has been languishing for want of livelihood, employment or jobs, while their counterparts who chose to settle in other parts of the country rose to occupy the highest government offices, with two of them, Inder Kumar Gujral and Manmohan Singh, becoming Prime Ministers of India
“The opposition parties which are opposing the issue of identity certificates to the West Pakistan Refugees seem to have no problem with the increasing number of foreign nationals who have, in the last few years, settled down in Jammu & Kashmir, particularly in the outskirts of Jammu. This itself is an indicator of who is playing politics of demographic change with sectarian motives,” he said.
He elaborated that with this in mind precisely, a mechanism has been evolved wherein in the absence of citizenship rights or the State subject certificate, the members of this section of refugees could produce some proof of identity to avail of Central Government jobs or recruitment in military or para-military forces.
“This is something we should have been done many decades ago, but was not done by the previous governments and the credit goes to the Modi government that it has taken the initiative to correct this anomaly,” he said.
Denying the “mischievous propaganda” that this was the end of it and nothing more will be given to the refugees after Rs.2000 crore package, Jitendra said, “when the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have said that this is not the end, it is surprising whom are these so-called activists quoting to say that this is the last and final amount paid and thus deliberately provoking the innocent PoJK refugees.”