Avinash Azad
In a significant revelation on the last day of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly session, the government disclosed that 83,742 domicile certificates have been issued to non-state subjects over the past two years. This was in response to a pointed question raised by PDP MLA Waheed Ur Rehman Para, underscoring growing public curiosity and political concern around demographic shifts in the Union Territory.
During the Question Hour on Wednesday, PDP’s Waheed Ur Rehman Para asked: “Will the Government please state the total number of Domicile Certificates issued to Non-State Subjects in Jammu and Kashmir during the last 2 years?”
Responding to the starred question, the government stated: “The total number of domicile certificates issued in Jammu and Kashmir during the last two years is 35,12,184 out of which 83,742 have been issued to the non-state subjects.”
This revelation assumes added importance in the backdrop of the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, which revoked Jammu & Kashmir’s special constitutional status and opened the door for non-residents to claim residency rights under the new Domicile Law introduced in 2020. Opposition leaders and civil society activists have repeatedly expressed concerns over what they describe as “deliberate demographic engineering”.
Para, who represents Pulwama constituency in South Kashmir, said his question was aimed at “bringing transparency to a sensitive and far-reaching policy issue that directly affects the region’s identity and future.”
