Who are West Pakistan Refugees (WPR) Everything You Need to Know

1)  On October 17, 1947 a revolt was started by the Second World War veterans after the Hindu Ruler of Jammu & Kashmir Hari Singh called for disarmament of the erstwhile soldiers of the British Army. The veterans had voluntarily disarmed themselves, but seeing their arms being supplied to Hindu dominated “village defense committees” in Jammu. An indigenous revolt began to overthrow the Hindu Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir.

2)  The revolt was led by Jammu & Kashmir’s first Barrister Sardar Ibrahim Khan who became the founder of the Azad Kashmir Movement and later the President of Azad Kashmir. The revolt defeated the troops of the Dogra overlord.

3)  At the same time, an uprising was going on in the valley of Kashmir, as Hari Singh left the capital, a genocide was organised against the Jammu Muslims from 26th of October 1947 which peaked in November 1947. Estimates of 215,000 – 500,000 Muslims were subjected to a series of massacres by the Dogra Army and the Hindu Terrorist Organisations such as RSS. Estimates of 500,000 to 1 million Muslims in Jammu became refugees, they settled in West Pakistan, mostly Sialkot.

“… a large number of villages which were well established till 1947 were completely depopulated consequent upon the migration of their population to West Pakistan and the state territory on the other side of the Ceasefire Line (i.e Azad Kashmir)… There was a phenomenal fall in the rural population of the Muslim Community in Jammu district during the last two decades as a result of mass migration to Pakistan of most of the Muslims (which) is about one-third of what it was in 1941” – Census of 1961.

4)  Likewise thousands of Hindus and Sikh refugees from Pakistan arrived in the disputed territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Since certain districts fell on the way to India, the Hindu and Sikh refugees camped in these parts of J&K. The reason being that the border regions of Jammu & Kashmir, and Pakistan were free of any communal riots.

5)  While as other refugees from West Pakistan were settled in different parts of India according to their individual choices, the WPRs were made to stay in Samba, Kathua and nearby villages under a design by the Hindu Ruler to change the demographic character of Jammu. Many of these WPRs occupied the properties of fleeing Muslims.

6)  According to the 1961 census, 48,856 Pakistan-born people belonging to these communities migrated to J&K of which 96% settled in Jammu districts. After the wars in 1965 and 1971, the numbers increased to an estimate of about 100,000.

7)  Since many of these migrants did not have a Kashmiri domicile, a state subject law was enacted by Hari Singh in 1927) so they couldn’t become state subjects of Jammu Kashmir but rather were given an Indian citizenship whereby they could be employed in central government and vote in the Indian Parliamentary Elections. That does not entail them to acquire property in the territory of Jammu Kashmir or vote in the J&K elections.

8)  While many families especially in Kashmir valley were persecuted for espousing a particular ideology either were exiled for their political opposition, many of the properties that were left by the Muslim refugees of Kashmir since 1947 has been occupied by the state. Also, these refugees do not have a right to return to Kashmir.

9)  Many of the stranded Kashmiri families who were living in now- Pakistan due to trade and other purposes, before the partition have not been able to come back to valley of Kashmir. The author has spoken to a lot of Kashmiri refugee families who are desirous of returning to Kashmir but they are denied even simple visit visas. An application for a visa requires them to mention their relatives or a family history with regards to Kashmir, hence almost every time, their visas stand rejected.

10)  Sheikh Abdullah in 1977 passed the resettlement bill whereby anyone who could establish that he was a state subject between 1947-1953 or a descendant could have the right to return. The governor BK Nehru rejected it, the assembly passed it again and it was again rejected. The case is pending before the Supreme Court, if the bill would have become a law, hundreds of thousands of Muslims who fled during the Jammu genocide would be able to return and reclaim their property.

11)  Coming back to the WPRs, the erstwhile Sadr-e-Riyasat Dr Karan Singh and a patron of West Pakistan Refugee Council has been pursuing the agenda of the permanent settlement of the WPRs in J&K. In March 1981, he organised a march of these refugees towards Pakistan border to put pressure on the Sheikh Abdullah government.

12)  However Sheikh Abdullah resisted the the pressures, he refused to comply with the New Delhi demands that resulted in an uproar in the parliament. The center can issue an ordinance or recommendations but it would need a ratification in the state legislature to make it applicable in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

13)  Similarly Uyghur and Tibetan refugees who are in Kashmir Valley since 1952 and 1960s also have an Indian citizenship as well as the right to vote in Indian Parliamentary elections. Why is there no hoopla about settlement of these refugees? Is it because of their Muslim character?

Throughout the ongoing genocide in Arakan state against Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar, hundreds of Rohingya have fled to Jammu & Kashmir but the Hindu right-wing and anti-Muslim brigade has shown a hostile attitude towards them. In fact, one of their refugee camps was recently gutted in a mysterious fire. No action has been taken with regard to this. Only few Kashmir-based NGOs like Mother Helpage came to their rescue.

It is not the first time the People’s Democratic Party have flirted with the idea of the settlement of WPRs, it was done in 2007 as well. While as BJP and its various avatars, have always been adamant of following an Israeli policy to alter the demographics of majority Muslim Jammu & Kashmir.

The opposition to such an adventure will be naturally opposed by parties in the Pro Indian assembly and the Pro Freedom Parties. Can it set a precedent where such groups can come together on the basis of common grounds and challenge the New Delhi government? The truth will unfold in coming time.