Kashmir Hindus camps facing health catastrophe, infrastructure deterioration: Panun Kashmir

Jammu, Dec 4 (PTI) Panun Kashmir, an organisation batting for a Union territory in the Kashmir Valley for displaced Kashmiri Pandits, on Thursday raised the issue of migrant camps in Jammu facing a health catastrophe and deteriorating infrastructure, making life difficult for those living in the camps.

Jammu has five Kashmiri migrant camps housing about 40,000 people.

They expressed concern over the widening disparity between birth and death rates within the community and said the shrinking population of Kashmiri Hindus reflects the long-term consequences of displacement, trauma, and systemic neglect.

"We are here to present an urgent assessment of the worsening humanitarian, civic and existential challenges facing the displaced Kashmiri Hindu community in different migrant camps in J&K," senior Panun Kashmir leader Bhushan Lal Bhat told reporters at a press conference here.

"The quality of drinking water has declined dangerously, resulting in an alarming rise in kidney failure, liver complications, and other serious health disorders among camp residents," he said.

Bhat said this is no longer a matter of neglect but a slow-moving public health catastrophe. "The government must intervene before irreversible damage is done," he said, pointing out the collapsing civic infrastructure, such as leaking roofs, broken bathrooms and unhygienic surroundings.

He underscored that even basic connectivity remains compromised, with the road from Kandoli Mata to the national highway and internal camp roads lying unrepaired for years.

On the issue of livelihoods, he criticised the prolonged delay in the allotment of shops to eligible families, remarking that such administrative indifference has only deepened economic insecurity among displaced households.

Speaking about "demographic crisis" in the camps, another Panun Kashmir leader, Nitin Dhar, said, "When births decline, and deaths rise year after year, it is the clearest sign that a community is being pushed towards extinction. This should shake the conscience of the state." Dhar pressed for immediate implementation of the enhanced cash assistance promised by the prime minister, emphasising that the delay has inflicted needless hardship on affected families.

He also drew attention to the acute shortage of teaching staff in government higher secondary schools catering to camp residents, calling it a direct assault on the educational rights of displaced children.

Describing the plight of PM's Employment Package for displaced KPs, Dhar said they were being treated as hostages on supernumerary posts, indicating "unjust" treatment meted out to them by the administration over the positions created for them.

Advocate Vishva Ranjan Pandita addressed the broader structural and legal dimensions of the crisis, mentioning that the failure to restore parks, community spaces, and basic public infrastructure reflects deeper institutional apathy towards the displaced population.

He also called for the recognition of "genocide" against Kashmiri Hindus, stressing that without acknowledging the crime, "no remedy can be meaningful." PTI AB AB AMJ AMJ