What
about settlement outside the valley in the State
or outside the State of Jammu & Kashmir?
There
are some people who have proposed quasi- permanent
settlement outside the valley. There is no doubt
that the displaced Kashmiris from the valley are
the state-subjects of whole of Jammu and Kashmir
and therefore, free to choose any place in the
State to live like free citizens with equal
opportunities. However, the hard realities betray
an inherent opposition from local populations to
such a settlement in the major towns outside the
valley and even in remote villages. There is
already a population explosion in Jammu and we
face anger and resentment even to our refugee
status in Jammu and neighbouring places. There has
been fierce opposition to settle the employed
community in the jobs or to the provision of
admissions in the educational institutions for our
children. There have been negligible adjustments,
transfers and promotions and hardly any new
recruitments to jobs in the State Government. Now
some bellicose groups have been agitating in Jammu
for the ouster of the displaced community and for
stoppage of all relief. It is nothing short of
seeking the total ruin and death of the community.
Attempts
to rehabilitate this community in peripheral towns
like Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar etc. would mean
living again in insecurity and within the
constraints of these outlying areas where the
opportunities for growth and development of
immigrants are meagre or non-existent. It is worth
mcntioning here that those of our ancestors who
fled the tyrannies of Muslim rulers hundreds of
years ago and lived in the jungles of Kishtwar and
neighbouring regions, have remained backward down
the ages. The benefits of independenece that
percolated into the farthest corners of the valley
never reached these refugees of yore even remotely
and they still continue to either till barren
strips of land or take up petty jobs of domestic
servants, bakers, cooks or orderlies. Freedom has
yet to dawn and the loaves and fishes of democracy
have yet to be distributed to these people who
were driven out like us centuries ago. The forward
looking displaced Kashmiris cannot now accept such
a situation or status. Yes, we are guests in the
Jammu province by our own right but we will have
to seek all avenues of repatriation back to the
valley into our Homeland. Accepting a quasi-
permanent senttement outside the valley is
tantamount to surrendering our rights in the
valley.
Quasi-permanent
or permanent settlement outside the State is again
an anachronism. If we are not welcome in a
different region of our own State, how can we
expect any other State to accomodate us. What with
population problems and resource crunch everywhere
and with regional and chauvinistic forces raising
their head everywhere? It will be unwise to seek
shelter and settlement in any other State. We will
not be treated even as second class citizens.
There is no doubt that India is a free country
with a constitution which provides guarantees of
life, work, property and freedom of expression and
of religious faith everywhere and does not stop us
from buying land and making a living and seeking a
job anywhere. In individual capacity some of our
displaced members have sought such settlement, in
the process getting scattered and dispersed. That
will be the beginning of the end for the
community. It may give a few of us, more
fortunately placed, a chance to exist as
individuals but shall take away our last chance to
remain as a viable, healthy and dynamic community
which has the power to offer leadership to the
country. If we want to survive both as individuals
and as a community and preserve our centuries oId
tradition and culture, we shall have to fight for
our own share in the valley, otherwise we will
incur the curse of our progeny.
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