The assembly elections of Jammu and Kashmir are different this time in many ways. Ladakh is now a separate union territory, Articles 370 and 35A are now a part of history and Jammu and Kashmir is no longer a full-fledged state. Not only this, another important thing is that thousands of people will get a chance to vote for the first time. Who was a mere spectator in the Jammu and Kashmir elections till now. These people have been settled here for 7 decades but till now they were not part of any election. These are the people who came and settled from Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. Most of these people settled in the districts of Jammu and Kashmir like Jammu, Kathua, Rajouri. These people who came in 1947 could not get citizenship till now and 5764 families had to live in camps. He could not do government, private job or any organized employment. He had no right to participate in the elections. So he was not in a position to make any kind of pressure. With the removal of Article 370, there was a ray of hope for these people. They got citizenship, right to buy land, jobs and became part of democracy.
Assembly elections are being held in the state for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 and thousands of people from these families will vote this time. These people were called refugees from West Pakistan. Along with this, the irony is that the people who fled from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir got citizenship because they were considered to belong to the state, but the people who came from Pakistan could not get citizenship in Jammu and Kashmir. The reason was that Article 370 stood in the way of their right. Now if it is removed, these people can also use the right to vote. The issue of not getting citizenship to these people was raised many times by the BJP. Most of these people, called West Pakistan Refugees, belong to the Dalit community. So there was also an issue of them not getting reservation like the rest of the country. Now the way from voting to reservation has been opened for this. Until now, these people used to express their pain by calling themselves slaves of a free country.
