SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

The local administration in Jammu and Kashmir has granted land ownership rights to refugees who had migrated to the region from then West Pakistan.

Thousands of refugees migrated to Indian-administered Kashmir in 1947 as well as after the 1965 India-Pakistan War.

The administrative council, which met Tuesday under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s chairmanship, accorded sanction to grant proprietary rights on state land in favor of West Pakistani displaced persons along with those displaced persons of 1965, officials said Wednesday.

“This shall significantly empower thousands of (refugee) families across the Jammu region. The decision fulfills the demand of all connected families, which have been requesting for ownership rights since the past so many decades,” said an official spokesman.

Most of the refugees have been residing in parts of Jammu province since their migration from then undivided Pakistan in 1947.

The decision will benefit over 22,000 families who received citizenship and other benefits following the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in August 2019 when New Delhi divided the Jammu and Kashmir region into two union territories (UTs).

The UTs have since then been separately ruled by New Delhi-appointed lieutenant governors.

Prior to the abrogation of the special status, the refugees were restricted from voting in local legislative elections as well as barred from applying for public jobs or scholarships.

With the revocation of Article 370 and the introduction of new domicile laws, West Pakistan refugees and other displaced persons of the 1965 war now have the same rights as native residents.