STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Refugees from West Pakistan on Tuesday celebrated the Supreme Court upholding the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370, saying they look forward to voting for the first time when elections take place in Jammu and Kashmir.
Hundreds of West Pakistan refugees organised a celebration in the Chabay Chak area of Jammu and Kashmir’s RS Pura to “thank” the Supreme Court for “putting an end to Article 370 once for all”. The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the 2019 revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir even as it ordered Assembly elections there by September-end and restoration of statehood “at the earliest”. Led by Labha Ram Gandhi, chairman of the West Pakistan Refugees Action Committee, hundreds of people celebrated the verdict with the Tricolour.
“The Supreme Court verdict has driven out the fear psychosis among the community about the return of the ghost of Article 370. Our community members living in scores of border villages are happy. It is like Diwali to us,” Gandhi said during the function.
The community is now waiting to exercise their franchise in the elections for the first time, he added.
“When elections to the assembly and the panchayat are held, we will proudly vote for the first time,” he added.
He said most of the community members are now registered to vote.
The organisation said there are 22,160 refugee families from West Pakistan, numbering more than 1.5 lakh people.