MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): The post-1989 Kashmiri Refugees Working Committee has announced plans to take their peaceful protest movement to the streets, including a hunger strike for their rights in front of the AJK Legislative Assembly.
The refugee delegation, under the leadership of Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, announced the protest movement during the meeting with the Commissioner of Muzaffarabad, Chaudhry Muhammad Guftar.
The delegation maintained that the base camp government [Azad Kashmir government] is not serious about solving the problems of the refugees.
While talking to the Commissioner, the refugee leaders said that they have been demanding solutions to their problems for over a year, but the government has not taken any serious notice.
“The plight of the Jammu and Kashmir 1989 Refugees in the base camp has become extremely dire,” they said.
The refugee leaders warned that the Azad Kashmir government will be fully responsible for the consequences of their protest and for subjecting the refugees to miserable conditions.
During the meeting, the Refugees Working Committee submitted a memorandum to the Commissioner Muzaffarabad demanding immediate decisions and solutions to the following issues;
- Additional Rs. 1500 per person in their monthly subsistence allowance
- Provision of lands as per the policy decided under the constitution of Azad Kashmir for resettlement
- Reasonable financial assistance for building houses and a financial package for employment
- Implementation of scale one to six percent in government jobs in all departments
- Immediate issuance of domicile, including full civil rights
- Two separate seats for the Valley and Jammu for 1989 refugees in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
- Issuance of refugee cards to married couples by considering them as a family
- Provision of final ownership rights to refugee settlements established for three decades, where families have an average of two to three marlas of land
- Under the legislation in the assembly regarding the resettlement of post-1989 refugees, all families of refugees should be resettled under a uniform policy
The refugees also demanded that the base camp government clarify its priorities regarding the Kashmir Freedom Movement and bring its performance to the public after the Indian actions of August 5, 2019.
The Working Committee told Commissioner Muzaffarabad that if the government does not immediately resolve the issues as per the submitted Charter of Demand, the refugees will start a hunger strike in front of the AJK Legislative Assembly.
The refugees delegation included Uzair Ahmed Ghazali, Ghulam Hassan Butt, Raja Arif Khan, Chaudhry Muhammad Mushtaq, Chaudhry Ferozuddin, Manzoor Iqbal Butt, Haji Rangeel Butt, Imtiaz Ahmed Butt, Qari Bilal Ahmed Farooqi, Muhammad Yunus Mir, Abdul Hamid, Muhammad Iqbal Mir, Syed Hamza Shaheen, Iqbal Yasin Awan, Siddique Dawood, Usman Ali Hashim, Abdul Rahim Shah, Abdul Rashid Turk, Atif, Muhammad Fayyaz Khan and other members.
