For the first time in their lives, members of the West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) and Valmiki communities will elect their MLAs in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. These communities, settled in various parts of the Jammu region, were previously denied the right to vote in Assembly elections due to Article 35-A.
Living in Jammu, Samba, and Kathua districts, the WPRs will exercise their right to vote in the Assembly elections for the first time since 1947. Despite being displaced from West Pakistan during the partition and settling in Jammu province, they were deprived of democratic rights to elect their MLAs and participate in forming the state government due to Article 35-A.
While they were eligible to vote in Parliamentary elections, they were denied voting rights in Assembly, Panchayat, and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections.
The third and final phase of the ongoing Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on October 1 marks a significant milestone for marginalized communities such as the WPRs, Valmikis, and Gorkhas. For the first time in history, these communities will participate in the electoral process to elect a new legislative assembly in the Union Territory.
For over seven decades, these communities were excluded from voting in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections due to their status as non-citizens of the erstwhile state, a result of the discriminatory provisions of Article 370 and Article 35-A.
"October 1 is going to be a historic moment for our community as we will finally vote in the Assembly elections," said Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistani Refugees Action Committee.
"While we have been allowed to vote in parliamentary elections, we were denied this right in assembly elections due to the discriminatory Article 35, which denied citizenship rights to our community," he added. Gandhi highlighted that the WPR community, which includes around 150,000 voters, is expected to play a crucial role in the Assembly elections, particularly in supporting the BJP, the party responsible for the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35-A, which paved the way for their participation.
The WPRs are composed mainly of Hindu and Sikh refugees who migrated from West Punjab (now Pakistan) after the partition in 1947. The majority of them are Dalits and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Although they had settled in the border areas of Jammu and participated in parliamentary elections, they were previously barred from voting in the state assembly elections as they were not considered "state subjects."
Same is story of Valmikis
The Valmikis, another marginalized community, will also participate in the Assembly elections. Like the WPRs, members of the Dalit community have been living in Jammu since 1957 but were also denied voting rights in the Legislative Assembly, Panchayats, and ULBs before August 5, 2019.
"We have been living in Jammu since 1957 but were deprived of all constitutional and human rights. We were denied voting rights in Assembly elections," said Gharu Bhatti, a Valmiki leader. He noted that the abrogation of Article 35-A had changed the destiny of future generations of the community living in Jammu.
"It was the result of a 63-year-long struggle that the government ultimately recognized us as permanent residents of J&K and granted the domicile certificate as well as the right to cast vote in the Assembly elections.," he said.
In 1957, Valmikis were specially brought from Punjab to be employed as Safai Karamcharis by the then Wazir-e-Azam of J&K, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, with a promise to provide them all constitutional rights. Despite their efforts, they struggled to obtain the rights enjoyed by other residents of J&K.
"We can't fully express our emotions," Bhatti said. "Many elderly members of our community, in their eighties, will be voting for the first time. Despite being brought to Jammu and Kashmir in 1957, we were denied the right to participate in assembly elections until now."
Bhatti added that the Valmiki community, which has around 6,500 voters, is mainly concentrated in Jammu district.
Bhatti expressed his community's gratitude toward Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose leadership, he said, brought an end to decades of discrimination. "Today, we feel like part of mainstream society. While other parties have also campaigned here, our loyalty lies with the BJP, which liberated us from decades of virtual slavery," he added.
