Other States - Jammu & Kashmir   

Caught between two nations

By Luv Puri

Jammu Oct. 11. Raja Mohd. Khan (92) wants to die and be buried in his homeland. But with the India-Pakistan imbroglio and confusion over his legal status, his wish may not be fulfilled.

Raja's story summarises the fate of thousands of people caught in the quagmire and who want to reunite with their families on either side of the LoC.

A Rajput Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir, Raja went to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in 1984, to meet the other members of his divided family. But he overstayed. He had to secure a Pakistani passport to get back to India. He approached the Indian High Commission for a visa, which was granted.

When the visa term expired he approached the High Court. He claimed that he was a permanent resident of the State and a citizen of India and he had the right to stay with his children in Srinagar, as he was a State subject and had served as a public servant in the Jammu and Kashmir Government till 1965.

The court initially dismissed his plea and concluded that he had ceased to be a citizen of India. The citizenship stood terminated by virtue of Section 9 of the Citizen's Act 1955. ``The moment a permanent resident of the State loses the citizenship of India, he also loses his status of a permanent State subject of J&K. The petitioner, who was admittedly a citizen of India and a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir, has lost both these rights after he voluntarily acquired a Pakistani passport,'' the Court held. The Jammu and Kashmir High court further asked the authorities to deport him to Pakistan.

Raja filed a writ before a division bench stating that he, being a citizen of Jammu and Kashmir within the meaning of Section 6 of the Jammu and Kashmir State Constitution, he had a right to stay here. On Wednesday the division bench, taking a humanitarian view, allowed him to stay in the State till further orders.

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