In open letter, group of retired IPS officers lauds Centre’s Kashmir initiatives

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 26

Underlining the Centre’s decisive efforts in making attempts to resolve “the complex Kashmir issue”, a group of retired IPS officers on Saturday wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed hope that the government would fulfill the promise of bringing economic development to Jammu amp; Kashmir with all the robust investment plans that have been finalised.

Lending support to the government’s decision abrogating the special status accorded to the erstwhile state under Article 370 and its reorganisation into two UTs of Jamp;K and Ladakh, they contended that now Pakistan has started calling for the reinstatement of statehood, “which amounted to accepting that Jamp;K is an integral part of the Union of India”.

“It is a matter of national pride that over these years, the Central Government tried all means possible to achieve this goal. The momentous decision to annul Article 35A and read-down Article 370 was efficiently implemented, with all necessary precautions to prevent the loss of life and property,” said the letter undersigned by the group, including members like former UP DGP Vikram Singh, former Jamp;K DGP SP Vaid and former CBI Director Prakash Mishra.

The other signatories of the letter are retired IPS officers AK Singh, Badri Prasad Singh, Geeta Johri, K Aravinda Rao, K Rajendra Kumar, KB Singh, Nageswara Rao, PP Pandey, RKS Rathore, Shivanand Jha, SK Rout and Vivek Dube.

They said that the complete integration of Kashmir with the Union of India was a long-pending unfinished task since India adopted the Constitution of India in 1950. Now, a citizen of Kashmir can proudly call himself/herself Indian and receive all benefits that the Indian state bestows on its citizens, they added.

The letter then went on to highlight the achievement of the government in Jamp;K. It said that in August, 2019, the government passed the Jamp;K Reorganisation Bill in Parliament and completely integrated the territory with the Union of India.

“This decision gave representation and residency rights to a number of diverse groups, including refugees from West Pakistan and Paharganj-speakers, who were hitherto denied rights to welfare and electoral processes. As a result, over 20,000 refugees from west Pakistan, Gorkhas and women married to non-Jamp;K residents also became legitimate domiciles eligible to buy land and get jobs in Jamp;K,” the letter read.