National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday that the decision of the leaders of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami to participate in the elections has been taken at the right time. Talking to the media, Omar took a dig at Jamaat-e-Islami and said that we were told that elections are haram, but now elections have become halal, better late than never. I have been saying for a long time that democracy is the only way forward. For 35 years, Jamaat-e-Islami followed a particular political ideology, their participation in these elections shows that it has changed now. This is a good thing.
The former Chief Minister said that we wanted the ban on Jamaat to be lifted and he should contest the elections on his own symbol, but this did not happen. Still, it is good for democracy that he is contesting the elections as an independent candidate. On the question of Jamaat supporting the People’s Conference, Omar said that it is up to the public to decide which party they want to support. People’s Conference’s relations with BJP are public. If Jamaat supports People’s Conference, then the public will know which party they are supporting.
Former Jamaat members filed nomination as independent candidates
Earlier, several former members of Jamaat-e-Islami filed their nomination papers as independent candidates on Tuesday to try their luck in the assembly elections. Jailed separatist leader Sarjan Barkati’s daughter Sughra Barkati filed the nomination papers on his behalf. Actually, the Union Home Ministry has banned Jamaat-e-Islami due to which it cannot contest elections. However, Jamaat had expressed its desire to participate in the elections if the ban was lifted during the Lok Sabha elections itself.
Let us tell you that Jamaat last participated in the elections in 1987. It is a part of the separatist platform Hurriyat Conference, which had decided to boycott elections from 1993 to 2003.
It was realized that stubborn attitude will have to be given up – Former Jamaat chief Majeed
Former Jamaat chief Talat Majeed filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate from Pulwama constituency. Talking to the media after this, Majeed said that after the change in politics since 2008, we realized that we should also change now and leave the old attitude and join politics and express our views openly. I have been expressing my views openly since 2014 and even today I am carrying forward the same agenda.
Assembly elections are being held in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after a decade. A lot has changed during this time. The central government repealed Article 370 in 2019 and made Kashmir a union territory of India. There was a constant demand in Kashmir and the country that elections should be held in Kashmir. According to the schedule released by the Election Commission, voting will be held in Kashmir on 15, 25 September and 1 October and then the counting of votes will be completed on 4 October.
