Jammu: Jammu Pradesh United Front on Thursday staged a protest demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan, demanding the permanent settlement and rehabilitation of West Pak, PoK and Chamb refugees in the state.
Over 200 activists, led by former MLA and convener of JPUF Balwant Singh Mankotia, held the protest demonstration and demanded the settlement of West Pak refugees, PoK and Chamb refugees of 1947, 1965 and 1971.
Talking to reporters, Mankotia said the Front shall keep a strict vigil on the political situation of Jammu and Kashmir and make sure that the people of Jammu State are not betrayed again by any political party.
He said that before the Lok Sabha elections last year, BJP had promised the West Pak refugees to accord Permanent Resident (state subject) rights to them within a year if they were voted to power.
"Moreover, the assurances of settlement and rehabilitation of West Pak refugees, one time settlement of PoJK and Chamb refugees of 1947, 65 and 1971 were also enshrined in the manifesto of the BJP ahead of Assembly elections," he said.
Mankotia asserted that now it becomes a moral responsibility of the BJP to incorporate the demand of the refugees in the CMP on first priority otherwise it would be a gross betrayal with them.
"It is a tragic tale of the West Pak refugees that despite of living here for the last 67 years, they have not been granted the state subject rights which directly deprives them from seeking employment, purchasing immovable property and voting in the Assembly elections of the state," he said.
Therefore, this issue must be discussed and resolved in the first session of the Assembly if the government is formed in the state, Mankotia said.
Uday Chand, the spokesman of Dugar Pradesh Party and the core member of the front, said it is a lifetime opportunity for the BJP which is a second largest party with 25 MLAs and a maximum vote share in the state to harp and project the Chief Ministerial incumbent from the Jammu region.
