Memorandum submitted to Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS, PMO, Member of Parliament (Udhampur constituency) and ex-officio member of the Delimitation Commission

Hon'ble Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh Ji,

In connection with the first such meeting of the Delimitation Commission, established by the Election Commission of India, on 18th February 2021 (tomorrow), I take this opportunity to bring to your kind notice the following:

There has to be a forward march towards ending discrimination with the people of the UT through the intervention of the Delimitation Commission now. There can't be two opinions about the facts of discrimination and bias against the region of Jammu in respect of delimitation earlier which allotted three seats to the Kashmir valley and two seats only to the Jammu region for the Parliament in addition to giving 46 Assembly seats to Kashmir valley and 37 seats to Jammu division. This was and remains a violation of the fundamental rights in terms of equality and equal opportunities.

The issue of the representation of the indegenous people of Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits, through Delimitation of constituencies is an important part of the road ahead in Jammu & Kashmir and there are expectations that the discrimination with a large portion of population in the UT will come to an end by a judicious Delimitation process and report in the near future.

The Kashmiri Pandit community, which is living as refugees in its own country for the last more than three decades now, has remained unrepresented all along due to gerrymandering of constituencies in the valley. The members of the displaced community form a politically victimised community for no fault of theirs and the ethnic cleansing in 1989-90 has added to and multiplied their woes in this respect. 

A fervent appeal is made to the Delimitation Commission to exercise its powers to send such a recommendation to the President and the government of India that settles the unsettled issue of politically important concern of the Kashmiri Pandit community. It will also help in paving way for the resettlement of the community in the valley, eventually, as per their geo-political aspirations in the days to come.

The displaced community has evolved a consensus in this regard. We demand that five seats be reserved/nominated for the minority community of Kashmir valley in the Legislative Assembly of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and also reserve and nominate one seat each in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively. The Pudducherry Assembly, which has an arrangement for 3 Nominated seats, in this context, is a guiding and leading example. You are humbly requested to put this memorandum before the Commission in its meeting on 18th February 2021 on behalf of the Kashmiri Pandit displaced community.

Thanks very much.

With best regards,

Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo,

Senior BJP and Kashmiri Pandit leader, Incharge: Deptt of Political Affairs and Feedback, J&K-BJP, Author & Columnist and Minority Human Rights Defender

Phone: 9419141214.(KNS)