POJK areas had not been shown in the revenue jurisdictions of Div. Com (J) and Div. Com (K) of J&K

Even after issue of S.O 3979 (E) POJK areas not shown n Revenue jurisdictions of three Div. Coms, Why?

There appears no need for Government of India to issue another order (removal of difficulties)

Daya Sagar

It was on 26^th June 2013 that a memorandum addressed to S. Man Mohan Singh Ji the then  Honourable Prime Minister of India was submitted through Divisional Commissioner Jammu  and among other things in the said memo it was submitted <“The areas of J&K in POJK should be specifically mentioned in all future reference by the Government as jurisdictions of Divisional Commissioner Jammu and Divisional Commissioner Kashmir since these are part of J&K”>.But that has not happened even after the maps of UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh have been drawn after 31^st October 2019 in terms  of  S.O 3979 (E) of 02-11-2019 of Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs), Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Second Order, 2019 issued  in exercise of the powers conferred on the  President of India  by Section 103 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

One question has always remained unanswered  and question  is ,< “ when the ‘subjects’ of the then princely State of J&K displaced from the areas occupied by Pakistan (POJK) have not been considered as refugees, they have not been paid claims for the properties left behind since Government of India  considers them displaced families from own areas staying in Indian areas who have to be rehabilitated  back on their native after getting the Pakistan occupied areas vacated and  even in Section -48 of J&K Constitution it was incorporated down that  “notwithstanding anything contained in Section 47(a) until the area of the State under the occupation of Pakistan ceases to be, so occupied and the people residing in that area elect their representatives twenty-five seats in the Legislative Assembly shall remain vacant” then why the areas occupied by Pakistan had not been shown / are shown in the revenue jurisdiction of state administration i.e under the jurisdictions of the Divisional commissioner Jammu and Divisional Commissioner Kashmir or under some other shadow administrative  jurisdiction? The occupied areas ofcourse were seen in geographical / political Map India but shown separated by Line of Actual control or Line of Control.

Any how some hopes arose (though belated) when after 5^th August 2019  the State of J&K was reorganised into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh with appointed date as 31-10-2019 ( in terms of  Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, Act No 34 of 2019, named as  principal Act) and S.O 3979 (E) of 02-11-2019 Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Second Order, 2019 was issued in exercise of the powers conferred on the President of India by Section 103 of the said Act by Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs).

The said order  among other things said ,< “WHEREAS, clause (e) of Section - 2 of the principal Act  ( Act 34 of 2019) defines the “existing State of Jammu and Kashmir” as the ‘State of Jammu and Kashmir as existing immediately before the appointed day, comprising the territory immediately before the commencement of the Constitution of India in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir’;  WHEREAS, Section - 3 of the principal Act provides that on and from the appointed day, the Union Territory of Ladakh comprises the territories of “Kargil and Leh districts” of the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir; WHEREAS, in view of the records of Survey of India existing before the commencement of the Constitution of India, Clause (e) of Section 2 and Section 3 of the principal Act and the geographical aspects, there is a need to clarify the constituents of Leh district in the principal Act since  difficulty has arisen in giving effect to various provisions of the principal Act; THEREFORE, The territory of Leh district specified in Section- 3 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 shall constitute Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilas, Tribal territory and ‘Leh and Ladakh’ except present territory of Kargil District of  the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir”>. And with the reference of  Department of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs (MHA) it was reported with fanfare in media that the ‘New’ Maps  for UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh have been issued where in for the ‘first time’ the POJK areas have been shown part of State / India  , some even tried to project it as an achievement of the present government in view of the actions taken on 5^th August 2016 although earlier also the POJK areas were shown in Map India separated with LOC/LAC. Where as inview of reduction of states by one and increase of UTs by 2 the UT / State boundaries were otherwise also supposed to be remarked on the Maps and had been done by issuing Maps of UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh as a routine requirement.

Any how it was still expected that the Pakistan occupied areas will now be prominently shown in the Maps but what ever Map was available (Survey of India 9^th Edition2019 English and 6^th Edition Hindi 2020 .In case some other map is there writer is subject to correction) for UT of J&K the occupied areas of Mirpur, Muzaffrabad etc were shown with names as were also shown in the past but as regards the  UT of Ladakh the  areas  (  Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilas, Tribal territory and ‘Leh and Ladakh’) that were mentioned as added as part of Leh District in S.O 3979 ( E) of 02-11-2019 were not located in the Map of UT of Ladakh.

May be it was too early on 2^nd November itself to expect that all references will be got made in the maps  as also  mentioning the reference areas in the revenue jurisdictions of the respective Divisions of UTs. But now more than 6 months have passed and neither the POJK areas have been shown with locations on the MAP of UTs/ Map of India nor have the areas formally been shown  in the revenue jurisdictions of Divisional Commissioner Jammu ( Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimber etc), Divisional Commissioner Kashmir (Muzaffarabad etc ) and Divisional Commissioner Ladakh (.Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilas, Tribal territory and ‘Leh and Ladakh). The websites of Div Coms have no such reference / descriptions. Why is still a question?

The S.O 3979 ( E) of 02-11-2019 did not specifically mention the POJK  areas like Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimber, Punch (part), Muzaffrabad  etc in reference to UT of J&K taking that  UT of J&K  comprised of all other areas excluding UT of Ladakh. So, the requirement for issuing another order like S.O 3979 (E) of 02-11-2019 could be taken as not there.

It has been reported on this 7^th May quoting Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the Regional Meteorological Centre that India Meteorological department (IMD)  has  included Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad which are parts of “PoK” under the Jammu and Kashmir meteorological sub-division since May 5 and are mentioning  “PoK” under its daily weather bulletin ever since the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir in the two union territories in August last year since  cities of PoK have found a place in the overall forecast of the North West division ( sub-divisions Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi-Chandigarh-Haryana, Punjab, east Uttar Pradesh, west Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and west Rajasthan). Here too some people have tried to draw political mileage from it projecting this as a development that assumes significance as New Delhi is being seen in a position to show that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to India.

Where as there is nothing that significant in making a weather forecast for areas that are constitutionally of India / UTs of J&K and Ladakh. Instead the requirement is to make  the corrections carefully  with wisdom and see that at least the Revenue Divisions of Jammu & Kashmir ( UT of J&K)  and Ladakh ( UT of Ladakh ) do formally show the Pakistan occupied areas / cities/ towns as part of these divisions which they are not showing even after 5^th August 2019. If need be instructions in that regard should be issued by Administrations of UT of J&K and Ladakh. Not that even if still felt Government of India may issue another order (removal of difficulties).            

Daya Sagar is a Sr Journalist / Analyst Jammu & Kashmir Affairs [email protected] 9419796096)