The Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), headed by member of Parliament Engineer Rashid, on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) 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 AIP 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 which 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 such as 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 Rohingya, he said its first responsibility should be to hear the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have borne the direct consequences of conflict.

‘Hear Kashmiri Pandits’

The AIP said the committee must also hear Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir and migrated Kashmiri Pandit families, whose migration remained 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 and Kashmir,” he added.

The high-level committee studying demographic changes, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday (August 10). It visited the Jagti Migrant Township in Nagrota, Jammu, and met several groups there.

Published - August 12, 2026 08:30 pm IST