JAMMU : In a development seen as a setback to three lakh persons living in Jammu and Kashmir as "West Pakistan refugees," the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Thursday rejected an important bill giving them the right to become citizens of the State.

Besides Indian citizenship, a Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) is given to people whose ancestors have lived in the State for at least 10 years before May 14,1954. Only those with PRC can buy property, get employment in the State, vote in the J&K Legislative Assembly and are entitled to other privileges.

During the 1947 Partition riots, a chunk of the population migrated from the present Sialkot district of Punjab province of Pakistan to Jammu and Kashmir. As the "West Pakistan refugees" had come from outside J&K territory, they were not given the PRC.

The Panthers Party leader and legislator, Balwant Singh Mankhotia, moved a bill pleading for PRC to the refugees on the ground that they had been living in the State for the last six decades. He said: "It is important to do justice to the West Pakistan refugees, who are mostly poor, and give them the PRC." The State Finance, Law and Parliamentary Minister, Tariq Hamid Karra, said: "We have full sympathies for West Pakistan refugees. But the matter has to be resolved in a consensual manner as it has many dimensions."

He said the matter would be discussed at an appropriate forum and the decision would be taken on the basis of the collective will of the political parties.

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