- Hari Om slams BJP over West Pak refugee issue
- Party ministers, however, keep mum to avoid confrontation with PDP
Former BJP ideologue Hari Om has termed the BJP’s U-turn on the issuance of “domicile certificate” to Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan as “inhuman.”
Hari Om, who had resigned from the party to oppose the formation of the coalition government with the PDP, alleged that the BJP had proved that it was no different from the separatists and other mainstream parties in the state.
Hari Om now heads Jammu For India (JFI), an organisation formed to create awareness among the people about anti-people policies of the government.
Saying the PDP, NC, Congress, CPM and separatists were on same page when it came to denying people rights in the state, he said the BJP too was following the same path.
“The party (BJP) has betrayed its own constituency for power. It has ditched those who voted for it in large numbers and with great enthusiasm hoping that if voted to power, it will end the Jammu’s long night of discontent and despair. People had high hopes that the saffron party would ensure equal treatment for Jammu and Kashmir at all levels and in all spheres,” said Hari Om.
He said people had hoped that there would be rotational chief ministership and equal share in the Cabinet but everything was surrendered to the Kashmir valley.
The JFI convener accused the BJP of compromising its ideology by agreeing to strengthening Article 370 and by recognising the Hurriyat and Pakistan as stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The BJP has turned out to be worse than the Congress which right from 1947 repeatedly ditched the people of Jammu and Ladakh and pandered to communalism in Kashmir,” he said.
Even as BJP ministers have maintained a “guarded silence” on granting “identity certificate” to West Pakistan refugees (WPRs) to avoid a confrontation with their coalition partner PDP, the party today broke its silence on the controversy and reiterated its commitment to restoring the constitutional rights of these refugees, who have been denied basic needs like education and healthcare since 1947.
The BJP chose the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to break its silence on the issue but the party ministers, who are part of the coalition government with the PDP, haven’t yet spoken on the controversy.
The BJP leadership was forced to break its silence because the Congress as well as other pro-Jammu political and social groups had mounted pressure on the saffron party to clear its stand on granting “domicile” or “identity” certificate to these refugees.
The BJP state general secretary (organisation), Ashok Koul, today cleared the party’s stand on the issue, saying that it was not going to compromise on the humanitarian issue.
While adopting an aggressive posture, Koul said that since these refugees had been living in different parts of the Jammu region since 1947, they had every right to stake a claim on citizenship like other residents of the state. He made it clear that the granting of rights to WPRs was purely a humanitarian issue and some political parties had launched a malicious campaign only for petty political gains.
Koul also seized the opportunity to take those parties to task which had rendered indirect support to illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar who were living on the outskirts of Jammu city.
By breaking its silence on the ongoing controversy, the BJP has tried to not only counter its rivals’ campaign but has also given a signal to its coalition partner PDP that the party was not going to compromise on the issue.
The granting of citizenship rights to these refuges was part of the party’s agenda in J&K before it formed government with the PDP. Even in the Agenda of Alliance, both coalition parties promised to take measures for sustenance and livelihood of the West Pakistan refugees.
The BJP today organised functions at various places in connection with the celebrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday. However, none of the party ministers who spoke at these functions touched on the ongoing controversy surrounding identity certificates to these refugees.
