The revocation of special status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under Article 370 of the Constitution of India has put the spotlight back on return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits thus stirring up the debate, yet again, on their property needs. This paper attempts to critically analyse the legal and policy measures taken by the Indian state to safeguard the property rights of Kashmiri Pandits. The paper looks specifically at three core issues: 1) the categorization of Pandits as ‘migrants’ despite their forced movement from the valley; 2) implications of revocation of special status of the state of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution and its impact on the property rights and return process of Pandits, and 3) substantive and procedural failings of property reclamation process in the context of its role within the broader peacebuilding process in the valley.
Niketa Singh is an independent researcher and a former Commonwealth Scholar with a Master’s degree in International Development Law and Human Rights from the University of Warwick. Her research is primarily focused on migration and asylum issues in the South Asian region. She has also worked closely with Rohingya refugees and internal migrant workers in India.
This paper was written by the author during her Summer Fellowship on Internal Displacement at the Internal Displacement Research Programme at the Refugee Law Initiative. The Fellowship was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, on behalf of the UKRI Global Challenge Research Fund, as part of the funded project “Interdisciplinary Network on Internal Displacement, Conflict and Protection” (AH/T005351/1).
