An old, poor, and disabled man claimed to be shown as ‘dead’ in the PMAY list for removing his name
Lots of schemes for development of rural areas are available in Jammu and Kashmir, but the Rural Development Department in Doda’s block Ghat and especially in panchayat Dhara-A, seems to have fallen into the hands of corrupts.
Abdul Ghaffar (81), alias Gul Darzi, had a smile on his face, but the pain behind that smile was also evident on his face. All the hopes seemed to be confiscated because of the extreme level of atrocities suffered by him. Ghaffar’s wife melted so much when she heard the sympathetic words spoken by the correspondent that she started crying again.
“These people have declared my husband dead for some money. Maybe these people will even delete our ration cards, maybe they will even withhold our pension. Sir, these people are very cruel, “says Sharifa Begum, wife of Gul Darzi.
This is a hair-raising story of extreme persecution by the Panchayat faction of Block Ghat in Ward No. 06 of Panchayat Dhara-A in Doda District. Regretting the issue, one local Bashir Ahmed, said sarcastically, “It is an art to acknowledge oneself as dead in order to escape oppression, and this art is not available to anyone except the poor and oppressed.”
Abdul Ghaffar, alias Gul Darzi, his wife Sharifa, and those who inflicted atrocities on other people like them also belong to his village and they are none other than his own. These are the people who are known as Panchayat Representatives. These people, who have been allegedly hijacking the powers of the female Sarpanch and distorting the meaning of women’s empowerment, have gone so far as to inflict atrocities on poor people that even the fear of God has left their hearts. In the same way that human rights activists have become silent spectators as if they have sniffed a snake, journalists and so-called correspondents have also exposed the people who are grinding the poor in the mill of atrocities by putting their professional duties above the fold instead of supporting them. As a result, countless people, including Gul Darzi, are being dragged into the unseen mill of oppression.
It would have been fine if the name had been deleted simply, but to declare a living, healthy, energetic person as ‘dead’ is really a surprise. And so the investigative agencies, the district administration and the so-called social workers, despite knowing everything, are as silent as if nothing had happened.
According to sources, the names of more than five alive people in the said panchayat have been deleted and they have been declared dead, most of whom are physically disabled.
No one was able to provide satisfactory information when an attempt was made to contact the employees of the Rural Development Department posted in the said panchayat to find out the reasons for this story of oppression and barbarism.
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Anzer Ayoob is the Founder and Chief Editor to The Chenab Times
