Ashutosh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, June 28
House No. 200 in Muthi Phase I Migrants Camp has been the address of poverty of the Kashmiri migrants for many years. Almost all human rights activists, government representatives and lately interlocutors were shown this house as an example of miserable condition of the militancy-affected migrants.
While most of the migrants have got new residences in Satellite Township at Jagti that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 4 this year, the poster family was denied a flat in the township.
After most of the families shifted to Jagti, the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) reclaimed its land at Muthi and has been bulldozing the shelters, wherein the migrants used to live. A portion of his house was also brought down recently.
It seems that the Jammu and Kashmir Government has different values of humanity for different set of people. It reportedly denied accommodation to the family as its head, Yashpal Sharma, was born in Punjab. An abandoned child in Punjab, he came in Jammu and Kashmir in his childhood and since then he has been living here. It does not matter for the government that he, who has been living in state since childhood, his wife belongs to Jammu and their children were born in Jammu and Kashmir.
Nevertheless, his family was allotted a room in Muthi Phase I Migrant Camp like hundreds of other Kashmiri migrants in 1992. The family was also getting relief at the camp. Yashpal used to work in the Kashmir valley for more than 20 years. His family had to migrate along with Kashmiri Pandits at the time of insurgency in 1990.
“I spent two years in Geeta Bhavan along with my four daughters and wife with many other Kashmiri Pandit migrants. Thereafter, we were allotted a shelter in Muthi by the then tehsildar,” says Yashpal.
“Whenever some minister or other person would visit the migrant camp to assess the living conditions of Kashmiri Pandit migrants, the visitor would be brought to my house. Today I am undone and nobody seems to be bothered about me,” he says, adding, “My application for a shelter at Jagti was rejected on the ground that I am not a state subject. However, my wife was born in Jammu and Kashmir. My children were born here.”
“One of my daughters is struggling for life. She is a cancer patient. With the help of some philanthropists, she was operated at PGI, Chandigarh, recently. My wife is mentally unstable, asthmatic and anaemic,” he says, adding, “In the absence of a shelter, where will I go with my young daughters and sick wife?” “I have endured many shocks in my life since childhood. But this time, it is not the house they have broken…..it is I who is broken. Now I am left with only two options: Either I will kill someone or we all will commit suicide.”
“I sell coal in winter and fruits on a hand-driven cart in summer. For the last couple of days, I have not earned anything,” he says adding that for the past many days he has not been able to earn some thing.
“Anyone can see the containers in my kitchen, there is nothing left to cook and eat,” he says uncontrollably.
“We have rehabilitated almost 95 per cent of the migrants who were camping at Phase I in Muthi. Let me see records and only then I will be able to comment on the issue,” said, Narinder Jamwal, assistant commissioner, relief, Jammu.
House No. 200 in Muthi Phase I Migrants Camp has been the address of poverty of the Kashmiri migrants for many years. Almost all human rights activists, government representatives and lately interlocutors were shown this house as an example of miserable condition of the militancy-affected migrants.
While most of the migrants have got new residences in Satellite Township at Jagti that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 4 this year, the poster family was denied a flat in the township.
After most of the families shifted to Jagti, the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) reclaimed its land at Muthi and has been bulldozing the shelters, wherein the migrants used to live. A portion of his house was also brought down recently.
It seems that the Jammu and Kashmir Government has different values of humanity for different set of people. It reportedly denied accommodation to the family as its head, Yashpal Sharma, was born in Punjab. An abandoned child in Punjab, he came in Jammu and Kashmir in his childhood and since then he has been living here. It does not matter for the government that he, who has been living in state since childhood, his wife belongs to Jammu and their children were born in Jammu and Kashmir.
Nevertheless, his family was allotted a room in Muthi Phase I Migrant Camp like hundreds of other Kashmiri migrants in 1992. The family was also getting relief at the camp. Yashpal used to work in the Kashmir valley for more than 20 years. His family had to migrate along with Kashmiri Pandits at the time of insurgency in 1990.
“I spent two years in Geeta Bhavan along with my four daughters and wife with many other Kashmiri Pandit migrants. Thereafter, we were allotted a shelter in Muthi by the then tehsildar,” says Yashpal.
“Whenever some minister or other person would visit the migrant camp to assess the living conditions of Kashmiri Pandit migrants, the visitor would be brought to my house. Today I am undone and nobody seems to be bothered about me,” he says, adding, “My application for a shelter at Jagti was rejected on the ground that I am not a state subject. However, my wife was born in Jammu and Kashmir. My children were born here.”
“One of my daughters is struggling for life. She is a cancer patient. With the help of some philanthropists, she was operated at PGI, Chandigarh, recently. My wife is mentally unstable, asthmatic and anaemic,” he says, adding, “In the absence of a shelter, where will I go with my young daughters and sick wife?” “I have endured many shocks in my life since childhood. But this time, it is not the house they have broken…..it is I who is broken. Now I am left with only two options: Either I will kill someone or we all will commit suicide.”
“I sell coal in winter and fruits on a hand-driven cart in summer. For the last couple of days, I have not earned anything,” he says adding that for the past many days he has not been able to earn some thing.
“Anyone can see the containers in my kitchen, there is nothing left to cook and eat,” he says uncontrollably.
“We have rehabilitated almost 95 per cent of the migrants who were camping at Phase I in Muthi. Let me see records and only then I will be able to comment on the issue,” said, Narinder Jamwal, assistant commissioner, relief, Jammu.
 | Yashpal along with his wife and daughter at the Muthi Migrant Camp in Jammu. Photo : Inderjeet Singh. |
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