After separatists, Farooq opposes domicile for Pakstan refugees

JAMMU: After the separatists, National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said the move to grant ‘domicile certificates’ to West Pakistan Refugees is “unacceptable” and his party would oppose it.

“The idea of issuing ‘domicile certificates’ to West Pakistan Refugees is unacceptable and National Conference won’t be a mute spectator to such extraconstitutional misadventures that aims at circumventing the state’s special constitutional status and character,” he told reporters here.

Farooq said there was a clear effort to exploit the West Pakistan Refugee issue to further a traditional agenda of weakening the state’s special status and eroding the State Subject Law.

He said the government’s “excuse” that certain certificates and documents were being issued to West Pakistan Refugees as proofs of identification were “absurd justifications”.

“West Pakistan Refugees have already been given Adhaar cards and before that other proofs of identity that enable them to apply for Central government and other jobs.

“Why the present government suddenly found the need to issue another form of an identity proof is incomprehensible,” said Farooq, a former Union Minister. He was commenting on the issue which has already become controversial with separatists slamming it and vowing to oppose it tooth and nail.

“National Conference will do everything necessary to ensure such machinations to erode the state’s special status are defeated,” Farooq said.

“These belated sympathizers of the West Pakistan Refugees have never done anything to help them in the pursuit of their day-to-day challenges and are exploiting this issue now only to serve their own political interests,” he added.