Why opposition to inclusion of non-locals in J&K’s voting list is against democracy

India

oi-Jagdish N Singh

Now,
any
Indian
citizen,
including
non-locals
living
or
working
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir,
can
enlist
their
names
on
the
voting
list
and
cast
a
vote
in
the
assembly
and
local
body
elections
in
the
union
territory.

Jammu
and
Kashmir’s
Chief
Electoral
Officer
(CEO)
Hirdesh
Kumar’s
announcement
to
allow
non-locals
to
register
themselves
in
the
voting
list
of
the
upcoming
J&K
Assembly
elections
shows
the
government
today
is
fully
determined
to
make
the
right
to
franchise
broad-based
in
the
truest
spirit
of
democracy
in
the
region.

Now,
true
to
the
spirit
of
our
Republic
and
its
territorial
unity
and
integrity,
any
Indian
citizen,
including
non-locals
living
or
working
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir,
can
enlist
their
names
on
the
voting
list
and
cast
a
vote
in
the
assembly
and
local
body
elections
in
the
union
territory.
Even
armed
forces
personnel
posted
in
peace
stations
of
J&K
can
get
their
names
added
to
the
voters’ list.

BJP
inching
towards
its
goal
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir

Observers
say
the
broadening
of
franchise
has
been
possible
due
to
the
abrogation
of
Article
370.
Earlier,
many
people
-marginalised
groups,
West
Pakistani
refugees
and
Dalits,
in
particular
-were
not
allowed
to
vote
in
J&K
Assembly
elections.
With
the
abrogation
of
Article
370,
there
is
no
requirement
for
a
Permanent
Resident
Certificate
or
domicile
certificate
of
Jammu
and
Kashmir
to
become
a
voter.

It
is
unfortunate
that
some
regional
politicians,
including
National
Conference
chief
and
former
J&K
chief
minister
Farooq
Abdullah
and
PDP
chief
Mehbooba
Mufti,
are
opposed
to
the
‘Registration
of
New
Voters
in
J&K’.
They
are
alleging
this
amounts
to
the
inclusion
of
‘non-locals’ in
the
region’s
electoral
process.
It
is
nothing
but
a
ploy
to
disenfranchise
the
people
of
Jammu
and
Kashmir.
The
ruling
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
at
the
Centre
has
invented
this
route
to
import
such
voters
in
the
new
list
as
would
enable
it
to
win
the
upcoming
Assembly
elections.
There
would
now
be
about
20-25
lakh
new
voters
added
to
the
electoral
list
and
it
would
include
even
those
who
have
no
connection
with
J&K.

Such
allegations
are
absolutely
baseless.
No
Indian
citizen,
who
lives
in
a
particular
region,
can
be
denied
a
share
in
its
political
process
of
governance.
Doing
so
would
be
antithetical
to
the
morality
of
democracy.
Besides,
the
established
procedure
in
the
country
goes
that
Election
Commission
officials
would
check
all
documents
before
adding
any
new
names
to
the
voters’
list
in
Jammu
and
Kashmir.
For
a
person
to
enrol
himself/herself
on
the
voter
list,
he
or
she
should
be
ordinarily
residing
in
the
Union
Territory.
Only
those
who
are
‘ordinarily
residing’
in
the
UT
can
get
themselves
enrolled.
Any
Indian
citizen
can
have
only
one
place
of
ordinary
residence
in
the
country.

(Jagdish
N.
Singh
is
a
senior
journalist
based
in
New
Delhi.
He
is
also
Senior
Distinguished
Fellow
at
the
Gatestone
Institute,
New
York)

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in
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