West Pakistan refugees, Valmikis to vote for first time in J&K polls

After the abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 last August, West Pakistani Refugees (WPRs) and Valmiki community in the Union Territory will be voting for the first time in their lives during the upcoming district development council (DDC) polls.

WPRs comprise members of Hindu and Sikh communities, who had migrated from erstwhile West Punjab (now Pakistan) after partition in 1947. They settled mainly in border areas of Jammu and while they participated in the parliamentary polls, the refugees had till now never voted for any form of elections in the former state as they were not considered state subjects.

As per official data, 5764 families popularly known as WPRs settled down in various parts of Jammu in 1947. Presently, the number of West Pakistan refugees has increased to over 20,000 families or four lakh persons.

Apart from WPRs, Valmikis (Dalits) who were brought to J&K in 1975 from Punjab by then state government were given permanent resident certificates but they had to abide by the condition that their future generations could stay in J&K if they continue to be scavengers and safai karamcharis.

After the scrapping of Article 370, both WPRs and Valmikis can now purchase land and apply for jobs in J&K, besides, they can also contest elections. The Valmikis can also now change their occupation.

As per leaders of the Valmiki Samaj, at present around 10,000 people belonging to the community are residing in J&K.

Valmiki Samaj president Gaurav Bhati said that getting voting rights and right to job is a welcome development. “We will contest polls and also vote. We can now switch to other jobs. This was long overdue,” he told reporters.

The DDC poll will be the first major political activity in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 and will be held in eight phases from November 28 to December 22. In the absence of an elected government in the Union Territory, these councils are set to become a new unit of governance in the region.