Omar, Mehbooba Bring Banned Jammat Into Electoral Centre Stage

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti brought the issue of banned Jammt-e-Islami to the forefront in the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): The entry of banned Jammat-e-Islami (JeI) into the upcoming assembly elections has put two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir at loggerheads, with both politicians trying to woo voters by making JeI a poll issue rather than their party manifestos.

National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said in Pahalgam that the upcoming elections are now "halaal" for Jammat when the same elections were "haram" for the organisation for the last 30 years.

“For the last 30 years, we were told that the elections were haram. Now it has become halal. It is a welcome step that Jammat is contesting the elections. The Jammat has suddenly changed its 30-year stand, which is good. I hoped that their ban was removed and they could contest on their own name and symbol," Omar said.

Reacting to her political rival’s statement, PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba said it is a very regrettable statement from the leader of the party whose political history is itself based on "haram, halal" elections.

"I am surprised that NC considers Jammu and Kashmir as its fiefdom. In fact, the halal, haram elections were started by the NC in Jammu and Kashmir," Mehbooba told reporters here.

“In 1947, when the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah was appointed chief administrative officer of Jammu and Kashmir by Maharaja when he was made Prime Minister till 1953, Chief Minister after 1975, elections were halaal. But when he was removed from the post of Prime Minister and jailed, it became haram for 22 years when he was fighting for the plebiscite. When he contested elections after 1975 it became halaal,” Mehbooba said.

Both the former CMs were part of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Alliance (PAGD) which their parties formed on August 4, 2019 and later after its abrogation vowed to restore the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the two parties split the PAGD and began their own journey when the parliament elections were announced.

Omar and Mehbooba both lost the parliament elections from the Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri seats with heavy margins respectively. While Omar was defeated by jailed MP Engineer Rashid, Mehbooba lost against NC’s Gujjar leader Mian Altaf. While both leaders have brought the banned JeI into the electoral limelight, they are demanding that their ban should be lifted.

Mehbooba Mufti said that the Centre should remove their ban and defreeze all their seized assets and institutions.

Omar is demanding the lifting of the ban and restoration of the organisation’s party symbol- pen and inkpot-that is now the symbol allotted to the PDP when it was created in 1998.

Four former members – Talat Majeed, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, Nazir Ahmad Bhat and Umar Hamid Malla- of the banned JeI also filed nomination papers as independents to contest the upcoming assembly election from Pulwama, Kulgam, Devsar and Zainapora assembly constituencies. Surprisingly, no former JeI member has been fielded from Tral and in Bijbehara-Srigufwara where only three candidates - PDP’s Iltija Mufti, NC’s Bashir Veeri and BJP’s Sofi Yousuf are in the fray.

JeI was banned by the BJP-led government on February 28, 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967. It was first declared an “unlawful association” on February 28, 2019, 14 days after the Pulwama fidayeen attack on CRPF convoy in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed. Its offices and properties were seized by the government.

The JeI contested the elections till 1987 but boycotted all the elections since then alleging rigging in 87 assembly polls and since then was supporting separatism in the valley.

Read More