West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs), Valmikis and Gorkhas were victims of Article 35-A and Article 370 as they were denied full citizenship rights in Jammu and Kashmir. These articles acted as a solid barrier in the way of empowerment of the group as they had no voting rights in any local elections. Be they of the legislative assembly, panchayats or the urban local bodies (ULBs). As such, these groups lived on the fringes of the society as the politicians hardly bothered to resolve the issues they faced.
This changed after August 2019 when the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi knocked off Article 35-A and 370 from the Constitution. This also led to an abrupt death of Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir against whom Shyama Prasad Mukherjee had given the clarion call of “Ek Desh, Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan’’ in 1953. From 1953 to 2019 was 66 years of steadfast opposition to Article 370 which finally won the day.
On Tuesday, West Pakistan Refugees, Valmikis and Gorkhas voted for the first time in the third and final phase of the assembly elections held in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur districts. Ruldu Ram, 92, a West Pakistani Refugee, was emotional while casting his vote as he said that a historical wrong done to them was being corrected now. There were others like Gharu Bhatti, a Valmiki, who voted in an assembly election for the first time at 45.
Gharu had seen three assembly elections of 2002, 2008 and 2014 pass him by, and not many politicians cared much for the plight of Valmikis, the community he belongs to. The members of this community are now bona fide residents of J&K, equal in every manner to other voters.
There were celebrations at Labba Ram Gandhi’s house in Samba district as dozens of his supporters raised slogans in favour of PM Modi on Tuesday. For them, voting in assembly elections for the first time in decades was a novel experience. Gandhi is a leader of the West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) who had come to Jammu & Kashmir in 1947. Mostly from Sialkot district of then West Punjab which became a part of the new born nation of Pakistan at that time.
Due to Article 370 and 35-A, these people were defined officially as Non Permanent Residents (NPRs) and had no voting rights in any local elections in J&K. On the other hand, since they had become Indian citizens, they were able to vote in parliamentary elections. Incidentally, there were two voters’ lists in J&K till some years ago, one for holding the Lok Sabha elections and one for the assembly elections.
Not any longer. After the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A in August 2019, West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) got the rights to vote in all elections.
Valmikis were another group of Indian citizens who could not vote in any local elections in J&K. According to official records, 277 families of Valmikis were brought in by J&K government from Punjab in 1957 to break a strike by safai karamcharis. These people settled here, mostly in Jammu city, but were given no rights by the J&K government. Right since 1957, the Valmikis were treated as “outsiders’’ by successive J&K governments.
No longer so. They too voted in large numbers on Tuesday and most of them were thanking the BJP for enabling them to participate in the assembly elections. For at least three generations, they could not participate in the assembly, panchayat or urban local bodies (ULBs) elections. Nor could they get any jobs in J&K. All that has changed now.
The third such group which voted in the just concluded J&K elections was that of the Gorkhas, Indian citizens but not treated as bona fide domiciles of J&K. Hence they too were participating in the Lok Sabha elections but in no local elections in J&K. Their forefathers had come from Nepal to join the military service in employment of Dogra kings. They settled here, lost their lives too while fighting in far-off lands but post-1947, found themselves treated as “outsiders’’.
No domicile rights, no jobs, no seats for their wards in professional educational institutions meant they were treated as second or third rate residents in J&K. But this has changed now. No longer are they condemned as far less than equal citizens and participated enthusiastically in voting for assembly elections.
Senior BJP leaders claimed during their campaign speeches that these groups of West Pakistani Refugees, Valmikis and Gorkhas are solidly behind them. The reason for their support is that the BJP enabled them to become domiciles of J&K and vote in the assembly elections. A couple of years, rather decades later, these people may vote for other parties also but they are all backing the BJP this time, party leader Sunil Prajapati says.
Out of the 24 assembly segments of the Jammu region that saw polling on Tuesday, these groups are present in at least 10 or 12 segments. Their one-sided vote for the BJP can give the party an advantage like no other, he pointed out. These votes could prove to be decisive in most of these segments, he added.
Incidentally, West Pakistani Refugees are present in many assembly segments located along the international border (IB) with Pakistan. These assembly segments are Kathua, Jasrota, Hiranagar, Samba, Ramgarh, Vijaypur, Bishnah, Suchetgarh and Chhamb.
The Valmikis are present in strength in the R S Pura-Jammu south assembly segment. The Gorkhas are present mostly in Bahu assembly segment and in lesser numbers elsewhere too. Karuna Chhetri is a Gorkha woman leader who has been vocal for the rights of her community. She says the BJP is the party which has helped them gain a firm foothold in J&K after decades and they are grateful for that.
According to unofficial data compiled by the West Pakistan Refugees themselves, there are over 21,000 West Pakistani refugee families in the Jammu region. Of them, nearly 90 per cent are Dalits. They are spread in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts, mostly living along the International Border (IB). These people live on lands which were vacated by the Muslims who went to the other side, Pakistan, in the disturbances of 1947.
West Pakistan Refugees are present in Kathua, Jasrota, Hiranagar, Samba, Ramgarh, Vijaypur, Bishnah and Akhnoor tehsil of Jammu district. “First time since 1947, members of our community participate in the Assembly elections despite the fact that our families have living in villages of the Jammu region for the last 76 years,” Labha Ram Gandhi, leader of the refugees, said.
The Valmiki community, which was long denied the right to vote, exercised their franchise for the first time in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on Tuesday and termed it a “historic moment”. Originally brought to J&K in 1957 from Punjab’s Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts for sanitation work by the state government, they were not considered citizens of the state, despite residing for decades.
The happiness and satisfaction after casting votes were visible on their faces. Gharu Bhati, who voted at a polling station in Jammu, said, “I am a first-time voter at the age of 45. We are thrilled and filled with enthusiasm to participate in J-K’s assembly elections for the first time. It is like a big festival for us.”
An 85-year-old member of the Valmiki community pointed out that he had been to cast his vote in an assembly elections for the first time.
A young voter from the Valmiki community said, “Every government has its vote bank. When we did not have the right to vote, nobody cared about us. Only the Modi government has understood our pain. We are thankful to them for this. They removed Article 370, after which the path of progress has opened up for us. The dreams of our children of business and good jobs are coming true. A boy from our community has become a Junior Engineer (JE).”
Similar sentiments were expressed by members of the Gorkha community who were deprived of many rights due to Article 35-A and 370. The members of these communities believe that dark days are behind them with the abrogation of these articles and they will see better days ahead.
Comments