The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), headed by Member of Parliament Engineer Rashid, on Wednesday said the high-level committee on demographic changes ignored the families displaced from their ancestral homes along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.
“The committee cannot claim to undertake a comprehensive demographic assessment of Jammu and Kashmir while overlooking the families and entire pockets of population that were displaced from their ancestral homes along the LoC,” said its spokesperson Inam Un Nabi.
The AIP demanded that the committee’s focus must extend beyond alleged demographic inflows to the outflow of indigenous populations caused by violence, prolonged shelling and insecurity. “The committee must answer a simple question: what about the families who crossed the LoC because they were running for their lives? They did not cross to take up arms or join militancy. They crossed because they wanted to save their children, their elderly and their families from a conflict that had made their homes unsafe. What is the government doing today to bring such families back?” said Mr. Nabi.
Kashmir’s forward areas like Jumgund, Machil, Keran, Karnah, Gurez, Uri, Poonch and Mendhar have witnessed migrations since 1947.
“If demographic correction is the objective, then restoring the population driven out by conflict must be part of that agenda. You cannot discuss demographic change while ignoring the empty homes, abandoned land and families that were forced to establish their lives elsewhere,” Mr. Inam said.
Taking strong exception to the committee’s reported interaction with the Rohingya, he said its first responsibility should be to hear the people of Jammu & Kashmir who have borne the direct consequences of conflict.
‘Hear Pandits’
The AIP said it must also hear Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir and migrated Kashmiri Pandit families, whose migration remains an essential part of the region’s demographic history.
“Do not prepare a demographic report by ignoring this important part. Go to the people who have actually lost their homes, villages and livelihoods. Their story is the missing chapter in any honest assessment of demographic change in Jammu & Kashmir,” the AIP spokesperson said.
The high-level committee studying demographic changes, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, arrived in J&K on Monday.
Published – August 13, 2026 12:46 am IST
