Refugees of Jammu & Kashmir History and Way Forward (Part 1)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as The UN
Refugee Agency observes 20th of June every year as World Refugee Day. The
mandate of the UNHCR is to provide, on a non-political and humanitarian basis, protection to
refugees at international level and to seek permanent solutions for them. The UNHCR has
won the Nobel Peace prize twice in 1954 and 1981. But UNCHR, an organization which has a
lofty mandate and has won several awards including the Nobel peace prize, appears to have
chosen to ignore the plight of more than 2 million refugees / displaced persons of various
denominations in Jammu & Kashmir who are living a life of penury in despicable conditions for
the past several decades. Neither has the organization taken the plight and issues of these
people seriously through its reports nor has it impressed upon the government of India to
address their plight.
UNHCR State of the Global refugees 2012 report released this in June 2012 does not
even mention the refugees / displaced persons in J&K. The UNHCR Refugee Global trends
2012 report too has no mention of the displaced persons from the Pakistan Occupied areas
of J&K, the refugees from the West Pakistan living in J&K since 1947 and migrants from the
militancy affected areas of J&K who survived the ethnic cleansing by marauding
fundamentalists in 1947 and the terrorism thereafter. To be brief, the World Refugee Day
observed by this international organization has no meaning to these displaced people who
have been in agony for decades now.
Programmes conducted world over by the Governments and organizations on World Refugee
Day did not make even a token reference to the cause of the Displaced Persons from POJK or
the West Pakistan Refugees in J&K who have been living in distress for more than 65 years or
of those Hindu migrants from Kashmir Valley who were forced away from the Valley under
threats to their life, property and honour in 1989 and are still living in exile for last 23 years.
Consequently, the responsibility to understand their plight, that has been neglected by the
Governments of India and J&K, and to look for possible solutions falls on the concerned
citizens of India. Given this background, let us try and understand the history, problems and
possible solutions of these neglected Indian refugees of J&K.

No one chooses to be a refugee!

The origin of the refugee problem in J&K is a heart wrenching history. 1947 was turbulent time
for the sub-continent when Islamic Republic of Pakistan was carved out of India and large
scale migrations took place. Many Hindus and Sikh families, mostly from Sialkot district of
Pakistan, were forced to leave Pakistan under threats from Islamic fundamentalists. These
families entered J&K. Though they were regarded as citizens of India in 1947, they were not
deemed to be Subjects of the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
The constitution of India was incorporated with provision 35-A through the Constitution Order
of 1954, allowing the state of J&K to make any special provisions for the citizens of India who
belonged to erstwhile princely State of J&K. But the Constituent Assembly of J&K, while
drafting the Constitution for J&K, incorporated section (6) in the J&K Constitution which
reiterated that the State Subject rule of 1927 will continue to remain as the criteria for
considering a citizen as a permanent resident of the state. This Section categorically states
that only those citizens of India will be deemed as permanent residents of J&K only if they
were either State Subjects of Princely State of J&K or had lawfully acquired immovable

property in the state until 1944. Refugees who came from West Pakistan did not fall in this
category and no action was taken by the Maharaja or the Regent or the local J&K government
to grant State Subject status to them. Hence, even to this day they are not considered as
permanent residents of the state. Consequently, they cannot own a property in J&K, they can
not get jobs in the state government, they can not get admitted to state government run
professional colleges nor can they vote in the J&K assembly elections. In other words, they
have no basic rights of a citizen that the state subjects of J&K enjoy. Estimates say that ther e
are over 1.5 lakh West Pakistan refugees living in border districts of Jammu, Samba and
Kathua in squalid camps even after 65 years. Though they are lawfully citizens of India, they
are considered as non-state subjects in J&K. These issues cannot be addressed by the centre
directly, thanks to the Article 370 of the Indian constitution.
The Asian Centre for Human rights in its India Human Rights Report in 2010 details the
abuse of Article 370 and how it has affected any lasting solutions to the refugee problem in
J&K. The report also cites the International human rights law that unequivocally prohibits
citizenship based on jus sanguine i.e. based on the nationality of their parents instead of
where they are born. Ironically India is a signatory to such laws, yet everyone in the
government and politicians considers it politically incorrect to raise the issue of State
Subjectship of these minority Sikhs and Hindus. This despite the fact that there is a provision
in Section-9 (PART III) of the J&K Constitution to redefine or modify the definition of
'permanent resident 'of J&K. It is very much prudent to do away with such laws since it gives
deceptive picture of the complete integration of J&K into the Indian union. Continuance of
Article 370 and or Article 35-A of Indian Constitution as well as such discriminatory laws
provide handy tools to separatist elements in addition to denying helpless refugees the basic
rights and facilities that residents of other states enjoy.

One family torn apart by war is too many UN

The tale of another category of refugees, those from POJK (Pakistan Occupied J&K) is as
painful and tragic. There are 1.2 million wounded souls from POJK, who were subjected to
genocide during the so-called Tribal Attack that was fully sponsored, aided and abetted by
Pakistan Army during Oct-Nov of 1947. These raids destroyed not only the life and property of
lakhs of people but also destroyed the very fabric of human society and relationships. These
refugees are a special category of people who have been displaced within their own country
by the invaders. These people belong to those areas of J&K State which are under the illegal
occupation of Pakistan since 1947. Most of them belong to Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimber, Poonch and
Muzaffarabad which were part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Most of
the Displaced Persons from POJK are Hindus and Sikhs. Those who were displaced were not
allowed to settle in the Kashmir Valley as the leaders of the valley wanted to preserve its
Kashmiriyat!
While those who were compelled by the circumstances in West Pakistan to take refuge in India
in 1947 were given 'refugee' status, those displaced from POJK were not. They were
categorized as 'Displaced Persons' by the government of J&K. Government of India did not
even compensate them for the properties they had left behind. Even the petty ex-gratia
amount was not given to all displaced persons. It will surprise many to know that neither the
Government of India nor the Government of J&K have so far conducted any census or
registration of the displaced persons from POJK and hence does not have any authentic
figures of their count. This speaks volumes of the treatment meted out to these people by the
government of J&K and the Centre. The government's position has been that, since they have
migrated from POJK, which is legally a part of India, they are technically not qualified to be
categorized as 'refugees'. Hence, they cannot claim the benefits of refugees. For the same

legal reasons, the Indian government has refused to pursue the compensation that was
supposed to be given to those from Mirpur, whose properties have been submerged due to
the construction of the Mangla dam.
Today, more than 10 lakh such refugees from POJK are staying in and around Jammu and in
other parts of India. While many of these POJK refugees are still living in unhealthy camps,
the J&K government in 1982 enacted a Resettlement Act to permit those who migrated from
J&K to Pakistan in 1947 by their own will and acquired Pakistani citizenship, to stake their
claim on properties that they or their ancestors had left behind in J&K. Though the Supreme
Court stayed the implementation of the Act in 2002, it amply demonstrated its apathy
towards these refugees. The displaced persons from POJK have no reservations in education
or in the services. They do not get any rehabilitation grants or any economic concessions and
they do not qualify for subsidised loans either.

Where do I live?
If external factors lead to the displacement of West-Pak and POJK refugees, the plight of
'Chhamb refugees' and other displaced persons during wars with Pakistan is largely selfinflicted. Nearly 5000 families were displaced in 1971 from Chhamb under Shimla Agreement,
as under this agreement additional area of Chhamb was given to Pakistan. Along with them a
large number of people migrated from villages on the border and Line of Control during wars
in 1965 and 1971. Many of them were advised to vacate their lands by the Indian army to
enable it to lay mines on the border. Even if they go back, they cannot obviously enter the
mined areas. More than 16,000 acres of their lands have been occupied by the army.
There are about 2.5 lac refugees from Chhamb region itself. Most of these refugees were
farmers and were settled along the border from Akhnoor to Kathua. They were not provided
full quota of land as prescribed by the State Revenue Authority and in proportion to the land
they had lost in Chhamb. The monetary compensation paid to them was so meagre that they
could not even build a decent shelter that could provide an honourable living for them and
their families. The 'Chhamb Displaced Persons Rehabilitation Authority' constituted by the
Govt. of India in 1974 was disbanded in 1990. These families of the displaced persons have
been left in the lurch and have not been provided full compensation so far. These were the
same people who helped the Indian army during the 1947 raids by Pakistan Army and the
Kabalies. Such is the treatment meted out to these brave, patriotic souls who gave away their
lands and homes to enable India win the wars against Pakistan!!!

Credits and References:

In Jammu's Camps, No Relief by Aditi Bhaduri - http://goo.gl/BfqAm
A lost generation in Jammu's refugee camps by Anju Munshi- http://goo.gl/ue7Q6
The Forgotten People of Jammu and Kashmir: 'Refugees' from PoK by D. Suba Chandran, Asst.
Director, IPCS- http://goo.gl/iHTWC
Refugee problem in Jammu and Kashmir by Balraj Puri - http://goo.gl/IOh60
Apathy towards Refugees by Ramesh Arora (Adv.) - http://goo.gl/dRDLZ
The Kashmiri Pandits: An Ethnic Cleansing the World Forgot by KPS Gill - http://goo.gl/O04p8
Jammu & Kashmir Affairs Mishandled : Misquoted : Miscarried by Daya Sagar
South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) http://www.satp.org