SC Reservation a Conspiracy to undermine Jihadis !

Separatists urge Kashmiris to participate in census
Khursheed Wani | Srinagar – Daily Pioneer


In the wake of the national census across the country, Kashmir’s separatist group — the All Party Hurriyat Conference — has cautioned against any “demographic change” in the embattled region.

The amalgam led by moderate leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq claimed in a statement that the passage of an inter-district recruitment Bill in J&K Assembly guaranteeing eight per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes was “part of the conspiracy” to change the demographic composition.

The statement added that non-Muslims were silently being settled in the State to alter its Muslim majority character.

Jammu & Kashmir has a unique law that bars non-State subjects from acquiring citizenship or owning immovable properties. A controversial amendment in the law in 2008, however, safeguarded the citizenship of women who were married to non-state subjects. Earlier, the women lost the citizenship and right to inherit property after marrying ‘outsiders’.

Last week, People’s Democratic Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig claimed that the Muslim majority status of J&K was under constant threat.

Interestingly, the separatists are urging people to vigorously participate in the forthcoming census. Syed Ali Geelani, who heads the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, and is known for his uncompromising anti-India stance, too has asked the people to participate in the census in order to stop “manipulation at the hands of authorities”.

Shakil Bakshi, one of the staunch advocates of armed insurgency in Kashmir, was the first to issue appeal to the people to participate in the headcount with “open eyes”.

JKLF chief Muhammad Yasin Malik has also asked the people to ensure there was no manipulation in the record-gathering during the census. This is for the first time that separatists, for their own reasons, have asked the people to participate in a process initiated by the Central Government.