Woman From PoK Wins Election, Becomes Sarpanch In Kashmir's Kupwara

A woman from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been elected unopposed as Sarpanch and Panch in Khumriyal area, around 110 km north of Srinagar in frontier  district of Kupwara , officials said.

Arifa Begum, the 35 year-old  woman had come to Kashmir from Pakistani part of Kashmir along with her husband Ghulam Mohammad Mir in 2010 under a rehabilitation package for militants. The Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara, Khalid Jehangir confirmed that she has won the polls. 

Arifa, who hails from Muzzaffarabad, the capital city of PoK, had submitted her nomination papers for the posts of Panch as well as Sarpanch, the official said. As no one had filed nominations papers against her, she was declared elected unopposed for both Panch and Sarpanch wards.

According to local news agency GNS, her husband Ghulam Mohammad Mir had crossed Line of Control (LoC) in 2001 and remained in PoK till 2010. It is in PoK that Mir got married to Arifa.

In 2010, the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced a policy for the rehabilitation of former militants who had crossed the LoC.  According to the policy, former militants would return from PoK through four entry points –Poonch-Rawalakote, Uri-Muzaffarabad, Wagah (Punjab) and Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. 

However, most of them took Nepal route to return home and both government of Pakistan and India tacitly designated Nepal route as one of the entry points.

Over 260 Kashmir youth, who had crossed over to PoK in 90’s, have returned to Valley in past three years via the Nepal route.

Most of these former militants returned along with the families that they have started in PoK. 

Many such women, who come to Kashmir as spouses of former militants, face multiple crises as they are not provided essential identity documents like ID cards, state subject etc. 

Besides, they are also not allowed to return to PoK to see their relatives. Their complain that  despite of the assurance from the government that their husbands would be provided employment under rehabilitation policy, the government has done nothing in this regard. 

In a tragic case, in 2013, one woman from PoK committed suicide in North Kashmir as she was exasperated by the situation here and restrictions on her travel.

However, in the case of deportation of PoK resident Mohsin Shah, High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in 1980s, had observed that Pakistan Occupied territory is the part of J&K and part of India and the state subject of PoK are the state subjects of the Jammu & Kashmir state of what comprised on August 14 1947. “And if a citizen has to travel from one part of J&K to another part and for that he had to acquire Pakistani passport under forceful circumstances it can’t deprive him of his Citizenship under Sec 6 of the State Constitution and Sec 9 of the Indian Citizenship Act.”

The court had observed that the citizens of the PoK are forced to apply for passport under appalling circumstances because they want to visit their home town. 

Even in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly the PoK has 25 reserved seats.