Displaced Kashmiri woman longs to purchase land for house in Himachal Pradesh, PM Modi unresponsive even after 4 years

Kangra: Nowadays the movie 'The Kashmir Files' has created a furore in the country and masses have come to know about the trauma the Kashmiri Pandit community had undergone followed by their genocide from the Kashmir valley due to the terrorist holocaust in 1990.

Displaced Kashmiri Pandits are at the receiving end on every front in the country as this community has no vote bank and has no political God father.

Displaced Kashmiri Pandits after being forced to leave the valley were shattered not only in the entire country but also in different countries of the globe.

Even after more than three decades of their suffering of the displacement from their homeland some Kashmiri Pandits were still homeless in this country because of the political and official apathy.

One such traumatic case of a 66 year old displaced Kashmiri Pandit woman has come to lime light from Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

Jaya Bindroo a senior citizen had been suffering for the last nearly 15 years now moving from pillar to post seeking permission from Himachal Pradesh state government under section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act 1972 when state government conceded that her file was untraced on government level and she was asked to apply a fresh which she couldn't do with the amended rules.

Pinning her hope in the Prime Minister Narinder Modi, Jaya wife of Autar Krishen who had migrated from Sopore in Kashmir valley to Kangra in 1990 following the terrorist holocaust, had written a letter to the Prime Minister Narinder Modi for his intervention on July 12, 2018 but received no response from the PMO even after the lapse of nearly four years now.

She said surprisingly prime minister had no time to look into the trauma of this old woman, who lost every thing for the 'Rashtrtava and Hindutav' but had no space in India for living without struggle at the fag end of her life.

Jaya Bindroo said she had applied in 2008 for the granting of permission under section 118 of HP Tenancy and Land reforms Act 1972 for purchasing of land in the Jogipur locality in the outskirts of Kangra temple town for constructing a residential house.

She said the case was recommended by Deputy Commissioner Kangra vide letter No 2878/ Bhu. Sudhar -211 dated 30-12-2008 to financial Commissioner (Revenue) and had been waiting since then for the required permission from the government but without any result.

She said following a RTI it came to limelight that the state government in a letter to the Deputy Commissioner Kangra conceded that the initial proposal of Jaya could not be traced at the government level hence it will be appropriate that a fresh case may be prepared and referred to the government along with Revenue papers and records for consideration.

She said that the Additional Chief Secretary ( Revenue ) in a letter No Rev D (F) 11-3/2016 dated 11-4-2016 to Deputy Commissioner Kangra had said “Case file is not available presently at HP Secretariat and directed DC Kangra to settle the case at his own level.”

Arvind Sharma a legal expert said that it was surprising that the competent authority to grant permission under section 118 was the state government and not Deputy Commissioner.

Jaya said that it was in reply to another RTI letter No 402/RTI-1 SR -15 dated 21-6-2016 she came to know that the file related with the case with District Revenue Officer Dharamshala was also missing.

She said that for submitting a fresh case it was difficult as the rules of 2008 were amended by the government.

It was for the negligence of the revenue department that both files were missing and she is being forced to submit a fresh case.

She said she had submitted the copies of old file to both Revenue secretary and the Deputy Commissioner Kangra in 2017 but without any response. She had sought an intervention on humanitarian grounds from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi but her dream was shattered as PMO did not reply back even after nearly three years of the receipt of the her request.

She said that Galib had aptly said, “ Hum Koo unse Wafa ki hai Umeed – Jo Nahin Jaante Wafa Kya Hai”.

Because of the dejecting attitude of the governments of different political parties the most of the Kashmiri Pandits who had arrived in this temple town had to go for another migration from here which looks to be unfortunate. (UNI)