AIP: J&K demographic panel ignored LoC-displaced families

The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), led by Member of Parliament Engineer Rashid, on Wednesday said the high-level committee studying demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir has failed to account for families displaced from their ancestral homes along the Line of Control (LoC).

The party’s spokesperson, Inam Un Nabi, said the committee cannot claim to undertake a comprehensive demographic assessment of the Union Territory while overlooking entire pockets of population that were forced to leave their homes due to conflict and insecurity.

“The committee must answer a simple question: what about the families which crossed the LoC because they were running for their lives? They did not cross to take up arms or join militancy. They crossed because they wanted to save their children, their elderly and their families from a conflict that had made their homes unsafe,” Mr. Nabi said.

The AIP demanded that the committee’s focus extend beyond alleged demographic inflows to the outflow of indigenous populations caused by violence, prolonged shelling and insecurity. It also asked what the government is doing to facilitate the return of such families.

Kashmir’s forward areas, including Jumgund, Machil, Keran, Karnah, Gurez, Uri, Poonch and Mendhar, have witnessed migrations since 1947. “If demographic correction is the objective, then restoring the population driven out by conflict must be part of that agenda. You cannot discuss demographic change while ignoring the empty homes, abandoned land and families that were forced to establish their lives elsewhere,” Mr. Inam said.

The party also took strong exception to the committee’s reported interaction with Rohingya refugees, stating that its first responsibility should be to hear the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have borne the direct consequences of conflict.

The AIP said the committee must also hear Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir as well as migrated Kashmiri Pandit families, whose migration remains an essential part of the region’s demographic history. “Do not prepare a demographic report by ignoring this important part. Go to the people who have actually lost their homes, villages and livelihoods. Their story is the missing chapter in any honest assessment of demographic change in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr. Nabi added.

The high-level committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. It has visited the Jagti Migrant Township in Nagrota, Jammu, and met several groups there. The committee was constituted to study demographic changes in the region and has been tasked with examining population trends and related issues.