POK Hindus denied rights: Diversity-USA to pursue issue when Modi comes to power

 DIVERSITY-USA
(A National Think Tank on Minority Issues)
3145 Gilbert Ave., Roseburg, OR (USA) 97471
Phone & Fax 541-957-841

Roseburg OR (USA)
April 24, 2014

When basic rights of citizens have been denied continuously from the country’s independence in 1947 and no government, despite scores of petitions, pleadings and representations made by the impacted people, corrected this serious violation of the Indian Constitution, it speaks volumes about the authenticity, universality, nature and rational character of Indian democracy, said Dr. Jagan Kaul, Chairman of Diversity-USA while commenting about the state of affairs prevailing in India’s J&K. We are determined to take up this issue with the incoming Modi-Swamy Govt. for satisfactory and legal resolution, he said. ( Diversity-USA is a democratic think tank on minority issues in the United States which has been fighting against the violation of the minority rights in J&K’s ever since Wahabi Muslims assumed the control of the state Govt. with the help of the Indian National Congress.)

It is a shame that the largest democracy in the world under Islamic influence has been denying the rights of fifteen Lakh refugees (Indian citizens) formerly residents of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, living in Jammu City. For the past 67 years neither the J&K nor the Indian federal government had felt urgency to correct this horrendous mistake, said Dr. Kaul. Under the dynastic regimes, both in J&K and India, the illegal and uncalled for emphasis upon the religious, ethnic and communal components in enforcing the central principles of the Indian democracy in the state have seriously eroded the minority rights. This unconstitutional, undemocratic and outright unethical process had an adverse impact upon the growth and stability of India’s nationhood in this region, said Dr. Kaul.

THE COMMUNAL REGIMES ILLEGALLY DENYING RIGHTS OF HINDUS

Ironically this outright communal policy was set in motion against the Hindu refugees in India’s only Muslim majority state. Such discriminative and vindictive policies are enforced against the non-Muslim minorities in all of the 53 Muslim countries. What is thoroughly disgusting and disappointing is that all of the Indian regimes, one after the other, during the past 67 years despite claiming to be secular, chose not to take action against this unbelievable constitutional violation.

MODI – TERRIFIES ISLAMISTS AND FUNDAMENTALISTS

Now the emergence of Narendra Modi at the helm presents a huge threat to the State’s ruling class that has benefited by continuing to govern under the communal and colonial policies of “divide and rule.” Narendra Modi is committed to rejecting the currency of this policy in his Govt. as he has done in Gujarat – the state he ruled for a decade. He is committed to building a single unified nation without any rewards or discrimination on the basis of religious, communal or ethnic affiliations. He wants to change the content, context and complexion of India’s national politics. Accordingly it is only a matter of months when these fifteen Lakh refugees will either be recognized as “state subjects” in J&K or the requirement of “state subject hood” would be gotten rid off altogether. These refugees are not stateless people accordingly they can not be treated as people without rights as doing so would be a serious crime.

15 LAKH HINDUS IN CAMPS FOR 67 YEARS WITHOUT RIGHTS

Ever since independence these 15 Lakh refugees have been living in camps in Jammu. They and their children have been denied the right to education, jobs and ownership of homes in the state. Although under the constitution of the state there is a set number of assembly seats reserved for the people of PoK but none of those seats have been given to these fifteen Lakh people although they are from the Pak occupied territories. The spirit of Kashmiriyat which promises equal rights for all Kashmiris has been turned upside down in this case as well. Even the Human Rights organizations have shown no concern whatsoever about the refugees and therefore, have not taken any measures towards the restoration of their rights.

This total indifference persists because both Kashmir and India are ruled by anti-Hindu governments and these refugees are mostly non-Muslims and Hindus. If only these refugees were Sunnis their needs would have been fulfilled on day one. Although for settling down in Kashmir one has to be a “state subject” but this qualifying requirement was not applied for Muslims by a sympathetic regime. Consequently we find Muslim settlers in Kashmir from Tibet, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand and India and in one form or the other both J&K and Indian governments extended an extra long helping hand in settling them down properly and they enjoy all of the citizenship rights. Abdullah regimes have been the driving force for bringing about this Islamization. But no such luck if the seeker were Hindus or non-Muslims. And that is the picture of Hindustan under the congress raj. We are going to make sure that the incoming Modi-Swamy Govt. rejects this discriminatory policy and admits these refugees as full-fledged citizens of India as well as of J&K State thereby restoring all their rights. We are going to ask the new Govt. to adequately compensate them for the hardships, loss and suffering endured by them during the past 67 years, said Dr. Kaul. In this regard a seven member delegation of these refugees has recently met with Narendra Modi and apprised him about the worst possible conditions, hardships and difficulties suffered by them during the past sixty-seven years.