Key Takeaways
- The SOS leader warned BJP to fulfill PoJK DPs’ demands or face wrath before the Lok Sabha poll.
- Five major demands include Rs 25 lakh compensation, reservation in technical institutes, a job package, eight J&K assembly seats, and Pahari status.
- Disunity among PoJK displaced persons has been exploited by politicians, prompting a call for collective action.
Jammu: Giving a clarion call for a decisive battle for the legitimate rights of Pakistan Occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) Displaced Persons, S. O. S. International Chairman Rajiv Chuni on Monday asked the BJP-led Central government to fulfill all the genuine demands of the displaced before the Lok Sabha election or else be ready to face wrath of lakhs of PoJK DP voters.
“Every political party has betrayed and disappointed the displaced people of PoJK. They used them as vote bank during elections only.
It is high time for all of us to take a decisive call and fight unitedly to get our legitimate demands fulfilled.
You (PoJK) displaced persons have the power of vote and we should not make any wrong decision while exercising this right,” Chuni said while interacting with a gathering of the displaced people of PoJK at Nowshera city.
He said the PoJK DPs have never given due importance because they (displaced people) were not united.
The opportunist politicians used PoJK displaced community for their petty interests because we are not united. “Our struggle for a dignified life and fulfillment of all our legitimate rights can yield desired results only if we remain united and take decisions collectively,” the S.O.S International chairman said while making a fervent appeal for a decisive fight ahead of the Lok Sabha election scheduled for April‑May next year.
“It is an appropriate time to send a strong message across the political platforms that our struggle is genuine and legitimate. We will have to take a collective decision of boycotting the elections or voting in favour of a particular party to ensure that our voice is heard at the highest level,” the senior refugee leader said, adding “we will have to think and take a call as to who have delivered justice to our hapless people”.
Coming down heavily on the Lok Sabha members from Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda, he said that both the MPs made big promises with the PoJK DPs before the elections in 2014 and 2019 but they never uttered even a single word about the plights and sufferings being faced by them after winning the elections.
“What is more unfortunate is that the Divisional Commissioner, who has been appointed as nodal officer to address the genuine grievances of the displaced people and has independent authority to take a decision, is not only incompetent to deal with our issues but he seldom responds to our phone calls.
The PoJK families, who have not received one-time ex-gratia of Rs 5.5 lakh as yet, are suffering but the authority concerned has turned a deaf ear to their miseries,” Chuni said.
The senior refugee leader said, “We will have to take a decisive call before the elections. If the Centre is ready to concede our five major demands including Rs 25 lakh to all PoJK displaced families as approved by the then state government, issue a notification for reservation in professional technical institutes of the country for our youth, announce a job package for educated unemployed youth of displaced persons, announce reservation of eight seats in J&K legislative assembly for PoJK refugees and grant Pahari status to all PoJK displaced community members, we will decide and overwhelmingly vote in their (BJP) favour.
Otherwise, we will not allow anyone to cheat our innocent people this time”.
He made a fervent appeal to all the members of PoJK DPs that they should not get betrayed by the false promises of the politicians from the ruling class and they should be asked to fulfill their commitments before seeking votes in their favour.
The refugee leader also struck an emotional chord with the displaced people staying in Nowshera, saying they (S. O. S. International) were connected with them since long though they could not meet them because of various reasons including Covid pandemic.
