Awami Itihaad Party (AIP), led by jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid, has submitted a resolution to the J&K assembly seeking citizenship and legal status for the families of former militants who returned from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the 2010 rehabilitation policy. The AIP’s move highlights the long-standing issue of the uncertain status of these individuals and their families, who have been living in Jammu and Kashmir without proper citizenship or legal recognition.
The rehabilitation policy was introduced in 2010 by the then-UPA government at the Centre, during Omar Abdullah's tenure as Chief Minister. Abdullah had characterized the rehabilitation of former militants as a humanitarian issue. However, the implementation of the policy has been mired in bureaucratic hurdles, leaving many families in a state of legal limbo.
According to officials, only 350 out of over 1,200 applications were accepted due to stringent criteria. This has resulted in a situation where a significant number of individuals who returned under the scheme are unable to access basic rights and services, including education, healthcare, and employment opportunities, due to the lack of citizenship and identity documents.
Sheikh Khursheed, AIP MLA and brother of Engineer Rashid, addressed a news conference on Sunday to explain the party's resolution. He stressed that those who came under the rehabilitation policy continue to remain without citizenship or legal recognition, leading to denial of their basic rights including education, healthcare, employment opportunities and identity documents. "The resolution urges both the J&K govt and the Centre to grant citizenship or appropriate legal status, issue valid domicile and identity documents, and ensure dignity, security and constitutional safeguards for these individuals,” Khursheed stated.
The AIP's call for citizenship is not the first time this issue has been raised. The PDP has also previously supported granting citizenship to these families, indicating a broader consensus on the need to address this humanitarian issue. The resolution moved by AIP seeks to bring the matter to the forefront of the J&K assembly's budget session, which begins on Monday, and push for a definitive resolution. The party hopes to create pressure on both the J&K government and the central government to take concrete steps to resolve the issue and provide these families with the legal rights and protections they deserve.