Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, June, 23 : For the first time in history, a National level meet of All India Jat Mahasabha was held here in Jammu. This meet was hosted by Ch.Manmohan Singh, President All India Jat Mahasabha J&K and was presided by National level Jat leadership and all the State Presidents of Jat Mahasabhas, each of which had arrived with their 10-15 member teams. It was held on 22-23 June. This was the first ever meeting which the Jats from Kathua to Poonch attended. The National body of leaders of All India Jat Mahasabha; Ch.Yudhvir Singh ji Gen.Sec.AIJMS, Ch.Rakesh Tikait ji National Spokesperson BKU, Ch.Harpal Singh Harpura ji Vice President AIJMS, Ch.Subash Ji Vice President AIJMS, Ch.Nathu Pradhan ji Vice President AIJMS, Ch.Rajinder Pawar Secy.AIJMS, Ch.Pardeep Tewatia Secy AIJMS, Ch.Dharambir Singh ji Secy AIJMS, Ch.Puneet Lakra Media Secy AIJMS and Ch.B.S.Dabas ji Jt.Secy AIJMS arrived on 21st June. State Presidents of Jats from all over India; Pratap Singh ji from UP, Raja Ram Mil ji from Rajasthan, Ch.Kushaldeep Dhillon ji MLA Faridkot Punjab, Rajinder Singh ji from Chandigarh, Ram Kumar Solanki Ji from Delhi, Rajinder Sura ji from Haryana, Vilas Patel Ji from Madhya Pradesh, Mangal Chand Choudhary ji from Maharashtra, Om Pal Rathee ji from Uttrakhand, Shiv Pratap ji from Bihar, Kashi Ram Durbhas ji fron Telangana, Ramesh Bhuker ji from Karnataka, Banwari Bhai Choudhary ji from Gujarat, Baldev Singh ji from Himachal Pradesh, Raj Kumar Sangwan ji from Meerut, Rakesh Tikait ji from Muzzafar nagar, Dharam Bir Balizan ji from Muzzafar nagar and Ashok Balizan ji from Muzzafar nagar led a 150-200 member delegation arrived for this meeting. Ch.Manmohan Singh welcomed all the members for coming to Jammu for this meeting, which was held with the purpose of appraising the Jats of our country the issues J&K Jats have been facing. Threadware discussions were held regarding unresolved problems and leading issues of Jat community especially those living in border area. Families who lost their lands and home during the wars of 1965 and 1971, migrated from their native villages, they were given lands as a part of their commute. These custodian lands belong to these people but they dont have any ownership rights over these lands. The necessary documentation was never provided to these people. This way they were deprived of the benefit of having an asset to their name which they could use during tough times, moreover these lands fall prey to land grabbers easily. These people cant use these lands as collateral and cant benefit from Govt Schemes. These displaced families were alloted lands or ex-gratia amount of compensation againts deficiency of lands, if any, which includes 36484 families, who are legally justified in claiming this for the loss of their movable and fixed assets in POK which they left during Partition. Central Govt sanctioned Rs.80000cr under PM development package in favour of these refugee families. The Ministry of Home Affairs on hearing the proposal approved the compensation relief for these families. These displaced families were to recieve compensation of minimum Rs. 30 lakhs out of which only 5.50 lakhs have been released in favour of about 60% displaced families of 1947,1965 and 1971 war, remaining families are left with no aid by Govt while they face difficulties in the complicated process of recieving this grant. It is pertinent to mention that in many states; Jharkhand, UP, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Jats have been granted the OBC Status but after raising this issue numerous times with authorities and Govt, the Jats of J&K are still no where close to getting the OBC category benefit from the Centre Govt despite various efforts from State Authority. The members of meeting though unanimously thanked Hon’ble Governor Sh.Satyapal Malik Ji for extending hands and directing the State authorities to complete the survey and mandatory formalities for granting the category to Jats of J&K. Ch.Manmohan Singh said that Jats of J&K are not well established. Most of these people live on border. Due to regular disturbances on border, there lands and houses come under attack. These people have to move every time this happens. Many of their family members have lost their lives, many are left handicapped. Their livestock and harvest is the first thing they loose. During border firing, these people are asked by the administration to shift to safe area. But these people dont have alternate lands and homes. These people demanded 5 marla plot alloted to them on the pattern of people. These people have lands on border area, which are taken over by the Armed forces.
Mining and fencing on their farms have been going on way back to 2001-2002, but the payment for the lands acquired by the Armed forces for the purpose of mining and fencing and dish (DCB) has not been given till now. These farmers who earned from their lands are in a financial crutch and it is the responsibility of Govt to provide them compensation and an alternative place to live in exchange for taking their lands and source of livelihood. The live case is, when their is delay in mining on these lands which the Army overtakes for this purpose, these lands are declared blind and in the process of installing mines on these lands, these lands later become uncultivative. In one particular panchayat Lagowal Block Ramgarh Samba, around 4000 kanal of land has been declared under blind area. Meaning this area will never be cultivated on and will be a part of zero line fence on border. According to Border Area Development Plan, these people are liable to recieve their dues for giving up their lands but the authorities at the helm of these affairs are not adhering to the rules and regulations of the Govt made for these special circumstances and these people are deprived of their legal lands and compensations. Ch.Manmohan Singh said that he himself has led border people delegation to the authorities for compensation. In response they get assurances of compensation schemes and Govt plans on their demands but these assurances and projects are often lost in their departments hierarchy. People who suffer physical injury or loss of family members are paid meager compensation by the Govt. Their compensation should atleat be at par with that of Armed and belt forces. These people who are living on border are under constant danger of loosing their lives in cross border firing, while staying at homes they are a part of the guards guarding the border area. Compensation of Rs.10 lakhs per person to those families who lost their family members life in cross border firing and one govt job to next kin is not an unreasonable demand. The uneducated and unemployed youth of the border area is the result of absence of Govt support. The National Body of Jat Mahasabha when heard the issues of Jats of J&K, they were perplexed. Ch.Yudhvir Singh ji said that it is known that the Border situation is very disturbing in J&K but the senior Jat leadership was not aware of the issues it was creating for people of their Biradari. He said that jats of J&K had never come forth with their issues. He came to know of this situation when his dear friend, Ch.Manmohan Singh came to him with the suggestion of inviting the National Jat leadership to Jammu to witness the situation themself. Ch.Manmohan Singh informed him of the trouble brewing around the Biradari and non responsive authorities. It is then they decided that they should hold a meeting here at Jammu at this scale to meet the Jats of J&K. Ch.Yudhvir ji said that before he met Ch.Manmohan Singh, they never heard much about Jats of J&K. When Ch.Manmohan Singh represented his state in National body meets, it was then they became aware about the Jat population in Jammu. Ch.Rakesh Tikait ji and Ch.Harpal Singh Harpura ji addressed the people present. They said that such condition of jats of J&K cannot be ignored. These issues should have been raised decades before. But now that they have been raised on such platforms, a solution will have to be found. They said that they will raise these concerns with their Govts, and force them to nudge the Central Govt to take positive action in favor of Jats of J&K. If the Govt fails to proceed on their demands, then the Jats of J&K has support of Jats from all over the country. They will hold National level protests. When together there is nothing our biradari cannot face to survive. They thanked Ch.Manmohan Singh for hosting this meeting and giving them an opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of our state. Meeting the biradari people was such an experience and if time permits, they will give Ch.Manmohan Singh another chance to welcome them to this beautiful state. Ch.Manmohan Singh thanked them in turn for coming on his call on such a short notice, but it was important for the national body to come here and Ch.Manmohan Singh that he on behalf of the biradari of J&K conveys the heartfelt emotion towards the Jats of our Country for taking up their cause. This meeting went on for 2 days. On 21st June, the senior leaders on arrival met with Ch.Manmohan Singh and his team, on 22nd June they met again with all the members of the delegation to discuss biradari issues and how to deal with them. On 23rd they held a large meeting, where they met with thousands of biradari members of our state to conduct discussions over their issues and grievances Jats of Jammu Kashmir were elated and thankful to Ch.Manmohan Singh and his team for hosting this event for their benefit and giving them a chance to meet with their biradari brothers from other states.
