In a significant move ahead of the Supreme Court’s September 30 deadline for holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the J&K government has granted proprietary rights to West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) and those displaced by the 1965 India-Pakistan war. These rights pertain to “state land” in the Union Territory where their ancestors were settled by the state government decades ago.

The decision was made by the Administrative Council in a meeting chaired by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, with key government officials in attendance.

This move ends over seven decades of “discrimination” against displaced persons from West Pakistan, officials said, adding that it would “empower” thousands of WPR families settled across the Jammu region. An official spokesperson stated that this decision fulfills the long-standing demands of these families, bringing them on par with displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK).

The Administrative Council also approved granting proprietary rights over state land to those displaced by the 1965 war, ensuring that proper safeguards are in place to prevent any misuse, such as unauthorized encroachments on state land.

WPR families, who were considered “non-state subjects” due to their non-resident status in the erstwhile princely state of J&K at the time of the 1947 Partition, were granted domicile status and voting rights after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. In contrast, the 1965 war-displaced families from Chhamb were permanent J&K residents with land ownership rights, government job eligibility, and voting rights.

Despite this, WPRs, primarily from Scheduled Castes (SCs), and those displaced in 1965 had not yet received ownership rights to the land on which their ancestors were settled in Jammu, Samba, and Kathua districts.

Some observers note that this decision comes after a decline in the BJP’s vote share in Hindu-dominated areas of the Jammu and Udhampur constituencies in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Although the BJP won these seats for the third consecutive time, its vote share decreased by 4.6% in Jammu and 10.1% in Udhampur compared to the 2019 elections.

With Assembly elections on the horizon, this move is seen as an effort to woo the approximately 30,000 WPR and 1965 displaced families, who largely belong to the Hindu community.

According to official records, 5,764 families from West Pakistan settled in J&K during the 1947 Partition, with their numbers now swelling to 22,170 families. The number of 1965 displaced families is reported to be around 7,000-8,000.

Labha Ram Gandhi, a prominent WPR leader, noted that only 20% of WPR families received agricultural land, pointing out that of the 46,666 kanals (5,833.25 acres) of land allotted to them, only 50% was state land, with the remainder being “evacuee land” belonging to local Muslims who migrated to Pakistan during Partition.

Gandhi welcomed the government’s decision but urged clarity on the status of the evacuee land still under WPR possession.

Previously, in June 2018, the Central government implemented a scheme to provide one-time financial assistance of ₹5.5 lakh per family to 5,764 WPR families. However, delays in processing proposals from the J&K government led to an extension of the scheme until March 31, 2024. So far, only 1,890 families have received the financial assistance.

Gandhi recently met with Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh to expedite the disbursement of assistance to the remaining families.