Kashmiri refugees plead PM for assistance

MUZAFFARABAD: The post-1989 refugees from the Indian-held Kashmir, on Sunday, appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to pay attention towards the resolution of their longstanding problems, following the alleged failure of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government in this regard.

The appeal was made by the representatives of the refugees, at a press conference, here at the press club, where they suggested that Mr Sharif should send the federal minister for Kashmir affairs to the camps of the Kashmiri refugees, to get a firsthand account of their plight.

According to Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, the leader of Kashmiri refugees, the total number of refugee families, living in the 13 camps manned by the AJK rehabilitation department or elsewhere, stands at 7,400, comprising of more than 36,800 people.

The refugees’ representatives, who included Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, Mushtaqul Islam, Chaudhry Mohammad Mushtaq, Ali Mohammad Butt and around a dozen others, took a strong exception to the AJK government for its alleged inaction to alleviate their sufferings.

“Except for paying lip service to us, the AJK government has not taken any practical steps to resolve our problems,” one of them alleged, adding that due to the prevailing “unpropitious conditions”, the refugees, particularly families of the Kashmiri martyrs, were facing depression and frustration.

The refugees’ representatives maintained that they had left their homes in the Indian-held Kashmir, for a sacred cause, without any assumption that they would be left at the mercy of unfavourable circumstances.

“In fact, we are also at the forefront of the freedom movement, and our commitment to the struggle on the other side of the divide has not waned for a single moment,” one of the representatives asserted, adding that “the refugees hold Pakistan very dear, but ironically, they are being made to feel left out in the cold.”

Listing some of the problems, they said their subsistence allowance of Rs1,500 per head had not been raised since eight years, making it almost impossible for them to meet the essential costs amid skyrocketing inflation.

They pointed out that around 800 families of the refugees, who were displaced from Kamsar camp, after it was wiped out by October 2005 earthquake, had still not been properly rehabilitated.

They were temporarily settled on a piece of land, acquired by the government on rent. Eight and a half years on, they are still living in wretched conditions, they said.

Similarly, around 1,800 families of Kashmiri refugees were compelled to hire an accommodation within the city area, due to lack of space in the existing camps.

They further complained that the AJK government had allocated six per cent quota for the post-1989 refugees for the government jobs, but that too was not being implemented, due to which, not only unemployment among the refugees had multiplied, but also discontentment and exasperation.

In the police department, 42 refugee youths qualified for the post of constables, purely on merit, almost a year ago, but so far they have not received appointment orders, they said.

“Since we have observed that the AJK government has been unable to do anything to mitigate our sufferings, we have been left with no option but to make a direct appeal to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,” a representative said.

“Being himself of Kashmiri origin, he has always shown grief and pain at the plight of Kashmiris. We are very much hopeful he will take swift action on our appeal,” he concluded.