Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in India citizenship applications to be processed on priority.12 But these have remained stalled, with the citizenship status of Chakma and Hajongs continuing to be in limbo. Another group that remains in legal limbo are in Kashmir. In the 1990s, when pro-freedom insurgency was at its peak, some 35,000 Kashmiris fled Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) state to settle in Pakistan. However, despite the passage of several years, Pakistan has not granted citizenship to up to 40 per cent of these migrants.13 The Pakistan government continues to insist that the 1948 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution calling for self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir is the only acceptable mechanism through which to solve the Kashmir dispute with India. The Pakistan authorities maintain that granting the Kashmiris citizenship would mean negating their right to self-determination. This has resulted in many migrants remaining stateless, without any documents, and receiving only paltry government support. The UNHCR does not include them in their list of refugees.14 On the Indian side, in 2010, the J&K state government announced a rehabilitation policy for ‘ex-militants’ who had crossed over to Pakistan along with their families, promising rehabilitation, citizenship and essential documents, besides education, employment and financial assistance. In response, nearly 400 families returned to India between 2012 and 2015, mostly taking the Nepal route.15 Many were Pakistani wives of ex-militants, who had their travel documents taken from them upon entering India but have not been granted Indian citizenship in return. Now they are protesting their stateless status, demanding grant of Indian citizenship, ‘or deportation to Pakistan’.16 12 ‘Grant Citizenship to Chakma, Hajong Tribals in 3 Months: Supreme Court,’ The Economic Times, September 20, 2015, https://economictimes.indiatimes. com/news/politics-and-nation/grant-citizenship-to-chakma-hajong-tribals-in-3months-supreme-court/articleshow/49031353.cms. 13 Issam Ahmed, ‘Thousands Fled India-Controlled Kashmir. Are They Better off in Pakistan?’, The Christian Science Monitor, October 13, 2010, https://www. csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/1013/Thousands-fled-Indiacontrolled-Kashmir.-Are-they-better-off-in-Pakistan. 14 Ibid. 15 Sameer Yasir, ‘Kashmir: 377 Ex-Militants Returned from Pakistan Via Nepal, Bangladesh Since 2010,’ Firstpost, January 12, 2017, https://www.firstpost.com/ india/kashmir-377-ex-militants-returned-from-pakistan-via-nepal-bangladeshsince-2010-3201294.html. 16 ‘Pakistani Wives of Ex-Kashmiri Militants Appeal GoI for Travel 43