SRINAGAR: The Awami Itihaad Party has questioned the priorities of the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes in Jammu and Kashmir, saying any comprehensive assessment must also account for indigenous families and entire population pockets displaced from their ancestral homes along the Line of Control.
AIP Chief Spokesperson Inam Un Nabi said the Committee’s assessment should go beyond alleged demographic inflows and examine the outflow of local populations caused by violence, prolonged shelling and insecurity, particularly in areas along the LoC.
“The Committee must answer a simple question: what about the families who crossed the LoC because they were running for their lives?” Inam said in a statement.
He said such families had not crossed the LoC to take up arms or join militancy but to protect their children, elderly and other family members from conflict that had rendered their homes unsafe.
“What is the Government doing today to bring such families back?” he asked.
Inam said the issue was particularly relevant to Jumgund, Machil, Keran, Karnah, Gurez, Uri, Poonch and Mendhar, where generations of people have lived under the shadow of the LoC.
“If demographic correction is the objective, then restoring the population driven out by conflict must be part of that agenda. You cannot discuss demographic change while ignoring the empty homes, abandoned land and families that were forced to establish their lives elsewhere,” he said.
The AIP spokesperson also took exception to the Committee’s reported interaction with Rohingyas, arguing that its first responsibility should be to hear people of Jammu and Kashmir who have directly borne the consequences of conflict.
He also questioned the continuing difficulties faced by families who returned from PoK/Pakistan under the Government’s Return and Rehabilitation Policy.
“What has the Government done for those who returned through its own rehabilitation mechanism? Why are families who came back through an approved process still struggling for basic certificates, passports and other civil documentation?” Inam asked.
“If the State invited them to return, it has an equal responsibility to ensure their complete rehabilitation and reintegration,” he added.
Inam said the Committee must also hear Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir as well as migrant Kashmiri Pandit families, arguing that their migration remains an essential part of Jammu and Kashmir’s demographic history.
“Demography is not merely about who enters. It is equally about who leaves, why they leave and whether the State has the will and mechanism to bring them back,” he said.
He urged the Committee to undertake a field assessment of the LoC and displaced communities before drawing any conclusions.
“Do not prepare a demographic report by ignoring this important part. Go to the people who have actually lost their homes, villages and livelihoods. Their story is the missing chapter in any honest assessment of demographic change in Jammu & Kashmir,” Inam said.
