The Jammu and Kashmir Government Monday said that 11199 non-state subject families, which include 9403 families of West Pakistan Refugees, are living in the State.
In a written reply to a question of MLA Langate Er. Rashid, Minister in-charge Revenue, Basharat Bukhari informed the House that 9403 West Pakistan Refugees are living in Jammu province.
Of them, 5457 families are residing in Jammu, 1612 in Samba and 2334 in Kathua, the Minister said.
In Jammu province, 586 other non-state subject families also reside.
Of them, 432 live in Jammu, 62 in Kathua, 25 in Udhampur and 67 in Ramban.
In the reply, the Minister also revealed that 1208 Tibetan Refugee families are settled in Leh district on state land at Chokimasar, Dongti, Anley, Koyal, Sudmo, Pella–Sasia and Tangste. The Minister said that two such families also live in Kashmir – one in Baramulla and another in Bandipora.
“One family of Joginder Singh son of Buta Singh of Kapurthala Punjab has migrated from Muzaffarabad in 1947 and is residing in Uri since 1953,” he said.
He also informed the House that a family from Haryana is also living in SonawariBandipora since 1971.
The disclosure that more than 9000 West Pakistan Refugee families are living in Jammu comes at a time when a controversy has erupted over granting them domicile certificate or what Government calls ‘identity certificates.’
The move to grant them domicile certificates has evoked widespread resentment from separatists and National Conference who termed it as an attempt to change the demography of the State.
