J&K Election Dates Announced | What Happens to 24 seats of PoK| PoK Displaced Families' Demand
The announcement of election dates for Jammu and Kashmir has stirred significant debate and concern regarding the fate of the 24 seats allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This development raises critical questions about the representation of PoK's displaced families, who are demanding justice and clarity on their political future. As the region prepares for elections, the implications for PoK's displaced population and the unresolved issue of their seats remain at the forefront of discussions. This article delves into the complexities surrounding these issues and the impact on both local and displaced communities.
#JammuKashmir #PoKSeats #ECIAnnouncement #AssemblyElections #HistoricPolls #JandKPolitics #Election2024 #LocalGovernance #PoliticalChange #PDPvsBJP #ElectionCampaign #JammuKashmirVotes #DemocracyInAction #PeopleSpeak #KashmirPolitics #ElectionUpdates
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#JammuKashmir #PoKSeats #ECIAnnouncement #AssemblyElections #HistoricPolls #JandKPolitics #Election2024 #LocalGovernance #PoliticalChange #PDPvsBJP #ElectionCampaign #JammuKashmirVotes #DemocracyInAction #PeopleSpeak #KashmirPolitics #ElectionUpdates
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Transcript
00:00This time I don't think he will be able to come anywhere in the double figure, because the ground reality has completely changed today.
00:07Look, I don't know about the Lok Sabha, but his poll is going to open in the Vidhan Sabha. How is that?
00:14If these people win in the Vidhan Sabha, then there will be a stamp on the abrogation of Article 370 that the public also appreciated it.
00:23And if these elections lose, then this message will definitely go that the people did not like that step.
00:32It was a political slogan of theirs. It was not a slogan of the people. People did not want it. Such a message will come.
00:53I don't know how security apparatus will also be taken into consideration.
00:57J&K obviously is a different ballgame altogether when it comes to holding elections.
01:03There is one critical aspect that comes into picture all the time when we talk about J&K is the total number of seats being 90.
01:10But there are 14 other seats also which are always taken into consideration for the POK region.
01:18And to discuss that further, we are joined by Rajiv Chunni, Chairman, SOS Internet.
01:23It's an organization for POK displaced persons.
01:29Rajiv Chunni ji, thank you so much for speaking to One India.
01:32Yes, thank you.
01:34Yes, thank you very much, sir.
01:36First of all, regarding the announcement that has been made today, what kind of expectations do you have?
01:45Secondly, the attitude of the government has always been that we will also bring POK into the election.
01:52How do you see it? Did you have any expectations for it in this assembly election?
01:58Look, it was a golden opportunity. I think we lost it.
02:05When we brought the reorganization on 5th August, 2019,
02:11the situation was that all the seats for POK were completely frozen, including the seats in Ladakh.
02:26And many committees and commissions have said, whether they are parliamentary committees or interlocutors,
02:32or commissions made by the state,
02:35everyone said that if you consider POK as your body,
02:39and the 12 lakh people who have come from there, who live in J&K,
02:44empower them politically.
02:47And to do that empowerment, you don't have to do any big exercise.
02:54All the seats here are vacant for that area, which we have frozen.
03:01So why don't we open one third of the seats for these people,
03:05so that these people can represent themselves on 8 seats,
03:08because the territorial constituencies are in the illegal grip of Pakistan today.
03:12So it will be that a message will go to the whole country and the world,
03:16that we don't just talk that POK is our body, we are also taking action on it.
03:22But we have lost that time.
03:25We reorganized it twice.
03:28But we even said that we will not touch those seats.
03:34Why not?
03:35They are for us.
03:36We are established there.
03:38Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims have also come from there.
03:41So when the seats are for us, why not touch them?
03:44They are not for trees and plants.
03:47They are not for rivers and lakes.
03:49They are for my people.
03:51So we left that.
03:52Now when the elections are taking place,
03:54then one thing also came up,
03:56that you do one thing,
03:58give them the provision of nomination,
04:00that above 90, we will nominate the 8 seats in which these people came.
04:06What they did in that too,
04:08that they nominated only one seat,
04:11and did not take the name of the rest of the things,
04:14and said that the 24 seats will remain vacant.
04:17Okay, this is the government's way of working.
04:20But I will definitely say that it was a very good opportunity.
04:25We thought that the old government could not do justice.
04:29So maybe these people will do justice,
04:31and will bring us to the mainstream.
04:34We will also be politically empowered,
04:36and will be able to say our thing.
04:38But we were again deprived,
04:40and again I feel that we are feeling cheated ourselves.
04:46Mr. Chunni, I have an article here.
04:50This is an article from The Hindu,
04:526th December, 2023.
04:55And the headline says,
04:58114 seats, migrant quota cleared for J&K assembly.
05:03Lok Sabha passes bill, Amit Shah says,
05:05reservation of seats for those displaced in 1990s,
05:08will ensure that the voice of the community is heard loud and clear.
05:11And you are right.
05:12I will correct myself.
05:14I said only 14 seats.
05:15There are 24 seats,
05:16which were to be added,
05:18out of which 1 third,
05:19meaning 8 seats,
05:21you had also demanded.
05:23So, 2023, 6th December,
05:26this is not a very old thing.
05:27This is about 8-9 months ago.
05:30And the government is now making a delimitation,
05:33and it is not mentioned.
05:34You are feeling cheated, as you said.
05:37What do you think,
05:38even for the BJP,
05:39after article 370,
05:41the path is not that easy,
05:43because we saw in Lok Sabha,
05:45they did not remove any party member from Kashmir,
05:49in Srinagar,
05:51to fight the elections.
05:53So, what do you think,
05:54the BJP,
05:55which was saying,
05:57or a few days ago,
05:59that we will take POK,
06:01Pakistan will be allowed in India.
06:03What is the ground reality, sir?
06:05Look, I don't know about Lok Sabha,
06:09but their poll is going to open in Vidhan Sabha.
06:12How?
06:13If these people win in Vidhan Sabha,
06:16then there will be a stamp on the abrogation of article 370,
06:20that the people have also praised it.
06:23And if they lose the elections,
06:25then this message will definitely go,
06:28that the people have not liked that step.
06:31That was their political slogan.
06:34It was not the slogan of the people.
06:36People did not want this.
06:38Such a message will come.
06:39But let me tell you the ground reality.
06:41What is in today's date?
06:43In this Vidhan Sabha,
06:46in the old Vidhan Sabha,
06:50there were 25 people.
06:52This time I don't think
06:54they will be able to come anywhere in double figure.
06:56Because the ground reality has changed today.
06:59You asked a very good question,
07:01that after doing so much,
07:03ST status was distributed here.
07:05Some Pahadi Muslims were also covered in it,
07:09that we win 3 seats instead of 2 seats in the parliament.
07:13But you know that in the last parliament,
07:15they had 3 seats from Jammu and Kashmir,
07:17including Ladakh.
07:18This time only 2 seats came.
07:20And the margin of winning was reduced a lot.
07:24Because last time you won with 4.5-5 lakh votes.
07:27This time you have won with only 1 lakh votes.
07:30This means that somewhere,
07:32the voters are angry with you,
07:35and have separated from you.
07:37In the upcoming Vidhan Sabha,
07:39the situation will be worse than that.
07:41Because people of my community,
07:43who were Hindus,
07:45because of their religion,
07:47because of their caste,
07:49we were removed from there.
07:51If we were of a particular caste,
07:54we would have stayed there.
07:56We were removed because of the design there,
07:59that Hindus and Sikhs have to be removed from here.
08:01So we came.
08:03After that,
08:05we should have been appreciated.
08:07Because India considers it as its own.
08:09We have not achieved the status of refugees yet.
08:12They say you are displaced.
08:14You are displaced.
08:16We say we are not displaced,
08:18rather we are misplaced somewhere.
08:20We are lost somewhere.
08:22We have nothing to do.
08:24This is not my thing.
08:26Let me tell you,
08:28today the youth,
08:30the unemployed,
08:32every person is displaced.
08:34This is the first time in history
08:36that the militants
08:38have turned away from Kashmir
08:40and gone towards Jammu.
08:42Even in the peak militancy,
08:44they never dared to come to Jammu.
08:46Because Jammu never got support
08:48from the local people
08:50who used to help them.
08:52Today, somewhere or the other,
08:54those people are also helping them.
08:56That is why they have been able
08:58to settle down here.
09:00So in a way,
09:02this is a failure of the government.
09:04It is a complete failure.
09:06And as a result,
09:08they had to face
09:10the consequences of this election
09:12on 4th October.
09:14Mr. Chaudhary,
09:16do you intend to fight any election?
09:18Look,
09:20these parties should have known
09:22that these people are in such a large number.
09:24And the biggest thing is
09:26that we have given them
09:28three golden decades of life.
09:30I am not talking about myself.
09:32I am talking about the community.
09:34So if you could not give them
09:368 seats,
09:38you would have brought
09:402-5 of our people here.
09:42Because a general perception
09:44among people is that
09:46our voters are not so mature
09:48as they are in other countries
09:50that they can decide
09:52how strong our vote is.
09:54So somewhere or the other,
09:56they are frauds,
09:58but today you will be surprised
10:00that there is a double-engine government
10:02in Jammu and Kashmir.
10:04They are the people of the
10:06LGBT party and
10:08they have a government in the centre.
10:10But here a manifesto is being made
10:12on my issues,
10:14on the issues of the unemployed,
10:16on other issues.
10:18Tell me, if we have a government,
10:20what should we do?
10:22The government is yours.
10:24You are in the centre.
10:26Today you are giving a slogan.
10:28So I think other parties
10:30will do the same.
10:32So in general,
10:34we do not have any hope
10:36because we are not political people.
10:38But we will definitely say
10:40that there is a chance
10:42in front of my people.
10:44I would like to say through your channel
10:46that people should use their votes.
10:48We have got a lot of power
10:50through votes.
10:52We will be able to change
10:54the situation when we
10:56make the right decisions.
10:58Mr. Chunni,
11:00I wish you and your colleagues
11:02good wishes.
11:04And we also hope that
11:06the elections are conducted
11:08in the valley and in Jammu
11:10peacefully. Thank you so much for speaking to us.
11:12Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.
11:14Thank you very much.
11:16So we were talking to Rajiv Chunni,
11:18Chairman of SOS International.
11:20It's an organisation for
11:22relocating displaced people there.
11:24Thank you so much for watching this broadcast.