After the first two posts on the topic, I searched for more knowledge and information and what came to revelation was more than shocking to me. It just made me go numb and I was almost lost for thoughts and words to have actually written this post earlier on. I was totally taken aback by the facts that revolved around the Genocide Acts and the Atrocities that had forced the Hindu Migrants from their homeland to move and settle around Jammu and be called West Pakistan Refugees.
To my disbelief the various essays and the articles that I read clearly identified that the state was considered as a Muslim State and that the then Indian Government led by late Jawaharlal Nehru agree to give the State of J&K a special status and thus the article 370 was introduced. This article allowed the state of J&K have its own Constitution that would prevail over and above the existence of the Constitution of India. Incidentally, it is not that well known to those suffering as well as the fellow Countrymen that in his Letter to one of the British Official, Late Jawaharlal Nehru made a specific statement that marked the importance of Accession of state of J&K, The Muslim State (predominantly), had helped India in understanding the way the state of affairs be dealt with in case of Muslims. The statement also suggested that if it were not for the State of J&K, the case of Indian Muslims would have been totally different. Also, it should be noted that Late Jawaharlal Nehru’s association with Muslims was never debated, his Son-in-Law Firoz Gandhi (Actual Name Firoz Khan) was a Muslim and was adopted by Mahatma Gandhi to avert the rebel from his Daughter Indira.
So, if we look back at the History of the plight of Kashmiri Hindus and the Hindu Migrants from Pakistan occupied Territory, what I see it as is something really bizarre. All the study of the various articles and expressions by various writers suggest that both the state as well as central government were never inclined to resolve this issue of “Refugee Status”. The Successive State Governments in J&K had always been led by a Muslim Leader, be it for National Conference or for PDP or Congress. Certainly to maintain their vote-bank with the Predominantly Muslim Electorate, they would not be interested in giving Electoral Rights to the Migrant Hindus. Not to deal with the situation where the Central Government would have had to confront the state government, the Central Government came clean with a nice statement that indicated that these Migrants were always from the Indian Territory and hence they have the rights of an average citizen when it comes to the case of Central Administration. From that perspective they have the electoral rights to vote and elect their leader to the Parliament.
So, if I look at the issue highlighted in the paragraph above, though we may say in last 60+ years things have not moved, I do not see them moving for may be another 60 years. Why? Simply because the Congress which is more of a Family Melodrama, is soft on the way it would deal with the Muslims and also, has been using the “Divide and Rule Policy” as its core strength to gain the political momentum. Though Britishers started this idea about Caste / Religion base Bias, Congress has very fell held the flag high on this ground. So, unless there is a Political Stability attained by a Non-Congress led party or may be a Person, who deals more with Logic and Rationale than the Caste and Religion, we may see an end to the issue of “Refugee”. The reason for me to make such a bold statement is simple – “Till the time Kashmir would have the special status as a State, it would be taken as Pseudo Sovereignty at various political establishments and thus that would keep haunting the Fellow Countrymen through their lives.”
There was similar case with Himachal Pradesh where anyone from outside Himachal Pradesh could not buy Property there. Because of that the state had faced some problems, but when that law was repealed, Himachal has seen much better time with respect to economic growth and other related aspects. So what is needed for the state of J&K is to bring the state at par with other Indian States and ensure that all the irregularities, nepotism etc is to be taken care off…..
