Banned Jamaat-e-Islami members back independents in J&K rally

Srinagar: Hundreds of people, including the select panel of banned Jamaat-e-Islami, participated in a joint election rally of four independents in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The participants promised to end "exploitative politics" of traditional parties.

Jamaat-e-Islami is backing these independents in lieu of convincing the Centre that it wants to participate in elections again, after a gap of 35 years. The select panel wants GoI to lift the ban imposed in February 2019 under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and upheld for another five years earlier this year. Several JeI members are in jail and their properties worth several crores have been attached.

The four independents fighting with JeI's support are Sayar Ahmad Reshi from Kulgam, a strong hold of CPIM leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami; Aijaz Ahmad Mir (former PDP member and 2014 winner) from Zainapora; Nazir Ahmad from Devsar; and Talat Majid from Pulwama. All the four seats are going to polls on September 18.


"People never supported violence. Educated people want to take part in a democratic process. This is a new dawn and the beginning of a new era," said Reshi. "We will talk about Kashmir and represent people's aspirations ...will work in a transparent manner with no room for graft," said Mir.

JeI panel head Ghulam Qadir Wani, who was present at the rally, hinted at their negotiations with the Centre: "Earlier nobody was talking to us. Now, institutions have approached us and people have started talking to us, which ultimately has paved the way for us to join the poll exercise."