50 applications received under Kashmir rehabilitation policy

JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir government has received nearly 50 applications from parents seeking the return of their sons from across the Line of Control (LoC) under a new rehabilitation policy for militants, say official sources.

According to the sources, applications - giving details of youth who had crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir in the 1990s - have been received from people in Doda, Poonch, Rajouri districts of the Jammu region and Kashmir Valley.

“These applications read like a petition urging the government to immediately take steps to facilitate the return of their wards from across the LoC,” an official told IANS.

The official said the applicants have cited the rehabilitation policy and urged the government to take up the matter at the earliest.

Under the rehabilitation policy, vetted by the union home ministry, Jammu and Kashmir youth who went across the LoC to receive training in arms and ammunition but did not take part in any militant activities can return and reunite with their families.

“This is a positive sign,” the official said.

More than 3,000 militants are said to be in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Many of them have married there and also have children.

Sources say this policy was made after repeated pleas from the parents of militants and also by militants themselves, expressing a desire to return to the valley and live a peaceful life.

The state government had given approval to the policy in November last year.