JAMMU: An organisation representing the people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir today staged a protest in Jammu, urging the Centre to take up with Pakistan the issue of their pilgrimage to abandoned shrines across the border.
The SOS International also highlighted the delay in providing relief to the community as promised by the Centre more than two years ago and called for speeding up the process.
Led by the organisation's chairman Rajiv Chuni, a group of displaced persons staged a sit-in near Tawi bridge in support of their demands.
"We were forced out of our birth place over seven decades ago. Many of our elders left this world with unfilled dream of visiting our religious places in their lifetime," Chuni told PTI.
He said the Centre should immediately take this up with Pakistan so that "we are able to visit our shrines.
Chuni also criticised the state government for its alleged failure to implement the Rs 2,000-crore relief announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 7, 2015, for the "one-time settlement" of the displaced people.
"After the lapse of more than two and a half years, only one sixth of PoK displaced persons' families have been covered till date," he said, threatening to intensify the agitation. Out of the 31,500 families, only 6,000 families have been provided compensation to the tune of Rs 500 crore, he said.