Former members of banned Jamaat hold poll rally in J&K

Srinagar: Thousands gathered Sunday at an election rally organised by former members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami in Budgam in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, where they pledged support for welfare measures by any future govt and called for the release of political prisoners.“Earlier, nobody talked to us. Now institutions have approached us, and people also talk to us, which paved the way for us to join the election battle,” former Jamaat member Ghulam Qadir Wani said. He didn’t reveal who reached out to them. Nearly a dozen independent candidates tied to the outlawed Jamaat are contesting J&K’s first assembly elections 2014 and since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The rally signals a shift toward mainstream political participation among former separatists, breaking away from their history of election boycotts.

“We are here to say that the vacuum created by the regional political parties needs to be filled. The sea of people is our strength. Fingers will be raised against us and we will be criticised as well, but this is the reality,” said Sayar Ahmed Reshi, independent candidate for Kulgam constituency. Aijaz Ahmad Mir, running independently for Zainapora in Shopian district, said he would serve the people without compromise if elected. “We will not promote corruption. We will work transparently. We will talk about Kashmir and Kashmiris. We will represent the aspirations of people in the assembly,” said Mir, who was earlier elected on a PDP ticket in 2014. Several independents have also formed a group led by ex-Congress politician Taj-ud-din, pledging to support any party with sufficient assembly numbers if it works for Jammu and Kashmir’s development.Jamaat had contested under Muslim United Front in the 1987 elections, which were widely seen as rigged and believed to have triggered insurgency in the region. Outlawed in 2019 for allegedly supporting terrorism, the Union home ministry extended the ban by five more years in Feb.Analysts said the former members now hope to pressure for the ban’s removal through electoral success. Their participation in the upcoming polls followed a record voter turnout of 58% in this summer’s Lok Sabha elections. The victory of imprisoned independent Engineer Rashid over political heavyweights like NC’s Omar Abdullah and People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone in Baramulla parliamentary seat also encouraged former separatists to join the elections. Arrested by NIA in 2019, Rashid remains imprisoned in Delhi’s Tihar Jail on terrorism-funding charges.

Winds of change in J&K: Former Jamaat members hold poll rally

Thousands gathered at an election rally in Budgam, Kulgam district, organized by former Jamaat-e-Islami members. They pledged support for welfare measures and demanded the release of political prisoners. Nearly a dozen independent candidates linked to Jamaat are contesting J&K's first assembly elections since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

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