Srinagar- For the first time since the Partition of 1947, West Pakistani refugees settled in Jammu who were given citizenship by the Prime Minister earlier this year will exercise their right to vote in the valley.
“Now, they (Pakistani refugees) have become normal voters. This time, they will choose their representative in Vidhan Sabha for the first time. They are in big numbers from Vijaypur and Ramgarh. We can see they are very enthusiastic,” District Collector and Election Officer Rajesh Sharma said on Saturday.
For the community, it is a historic moment and now its members who, according to them, faced political marginalisation for decades are now eligible voters, ready to exercise their franchise.
This shift has been made possible after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, which granted these refugees permanent resident status in Jammu and Kashmir. For over 70 years, they had been excluded from voting in state assembly elections. Now, their long-standing dream of participating in the democratic process will be fulfilled on October 1.
The West Pak Refugee Action Committee, which has long advocated for their voting rights, expressed joy and anticipation. “For us, the day of voting is nothing short of a festival,” a committee member wishing not to be named told KNO. Families are preparing to celebrate with special dishes such as puri-halwa and laddus, symbolizing their excitement and gratitude for this long-awaited opportunity.
The displaced community, numbering around 5700 Hindu families, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan in 1947. For decades, they lived in the region without many of the rights and privileges enjoyed by local residents, including the right to vote in assembly elections. “The abrogation of Article 370 brought about a seismic shift in our political status, finally allowing us full participation in the region’s electoral process. Till now, we were living as second class citizens with no rights and no power to choose our representatives. This basic democratic right was snatched away from us by those who are today out, claiming to be strengthening democracy and safeguarding the democratic institutions,” says Des Raj, a local resident.
These POK based refugees were displaced from their houses and forced to take shelter in Jammu 70 years ago. And what is more unfortunate and worrisome is that their plight has so far failed out rightly to move the world organisations, the Centre and state governments.
There have already been reports about how the three generations of people displaced from PoK were faced with poverty, discrimination and apathy and forced to live in 39 filthy camps. Thousands of refugees, who were forced to leave the areas of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan in 1947, were provided land in different parts of the Jammu region in the 1960s but they did not get benefits of different government housing schemes or access to bank loans
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