Raja Sultan Salahuddin, city president of the Pakistan Peoples Party in AJK Rawalpindi City, visited the long-standing settlement at Damdama Mandir in Raja Bazar and documented acute hardships faced by approximately 25 Kashmiri refugee families who have lived there since 1947.
The residents told the visiting delegation that families continue to share cramped rooms, often with two families per room, and that basic services including water, gas and sanitation are severely lacking. Shared latrine facilities are often used by multiple families, creating conditions that the delegation described as unacceptable for any human being.
Local activists Amin Qureshi, Rashid Qureshi, Zeeshan Sono and Tahir Mir accompanied the visit and briefed Raja Sultan Salahuddin and city leadership about the dilapidated housing and the absence of government action on durable resettlement. The residents say they have attempted modest repairs through self-help but remain without any formal ownership or permanent settlement plan after seven decades.
The delegation reported that the Auqaf department has issued eviction notices to these 25 families without providing any alternative arrangements. City leadership condemned the notices as inhumane and a violation of basic rights, noting that affected families have no other homes or resources and are distraught about the future of their children.
Raja Sultan Salahuddin pledged full solidarity with the Damdama Mandir residents, meeting each family and assuring them of legal and moral support. He urged political actors to refrain from using vulnerable migrants for short‑term aims and called the timing of eviction orders near elections a form of coercion and blackmail.
The city president appealed directly to the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, to take immediate notice of the matter and to direct relief in line with humanitarian obligations and constitutional protections. He also urged the Punjab chief minister, whom he noted has announced housing packages for displaced communities, to ensure that these Kashmiri migrants are included in any provincial relief measures.
Among the concrete demands presented were granting ownership rights to Damdama Mandir residents, an immediate halt to forced evictions, provision of alternative housing if vacating becomes unavoidable, and formulation of a comprehensive policy for permanent settlement of Kashmiri migrants. The delegation also called for restoration of employment and education quotas for Kashmiri migrants resident in Pakistan.
The PPP city leadership said they will continue to press for an urgent, humane resolution and stand ready to assist the affected families through legal channels and public advocacy to secure the rights of Damdama Mandir residents.
