‘Ghar-wapsi soon’: PoK wants to return to India, claims Imam organisation chief

Chief Imam of the All India Imam Organisation, Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, on Friday asserted that people in PoK are keen on reunification with India, citing the stark contrast in development between the two sides of the disputed territory.

Ilyasi said, “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is an integral part of India and, hopefully, will reunite with the country. This is not merely my assertion—many people in the region aspire for a ‘ghar wapsi’.

“They face significant economic hardship, which stands in sharp contrast to the conditions on the Indian side.”

‘A new Kashmir is here’

Praising the Modi government’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370, Ilyasi said the move has helped restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.

“I am happy to say that Kashmir has changed after the abrogation of Article 370. This is a new Kashmir where people are more hopeful and normalcy has largely returned.

“Tourism has witnessed a significant boom following the decision. There was a time when children were drawn towards violence, but today they are focused on education,” he said.

Article 370 Explained:

Oct 26, 1947: On this day the Instrument of Accession,1947 was signed between Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir and the Government of India paving the way for Jammu and Kashmir to merge with independent India. Singh signed the instrument amid a tribal invasion by Pakistani forces, who were genociding the non-Muslims of the region.

Oct 17 1949:  Article 370 that granted special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir was incorporated into the Constitution of India which itself came into effect on January 26, 1950.

Jammu and Kashmir was administered by India as a state from 17 November 1952 to 31 October 2019. Article 370 conferred on the state the power to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy of internal administration. It also barred Indians from outside the state from purchasing property or settling there.

Article 370 stipulated that the other articles of the Constitution that gave powers to the Central Government would be applied to Jammu and Kashmir only with the concurrence of the former State's constituent assembly.

Article 370 of the Indian Constitution said it was a temporary status of Jammu and Kashmir. It was titled "Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions", stating that the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir would be empowered to recommend the extent to which the Indian constitution would apply to the state.

On May 14th, 1954, then President Rajendra Prasad issued the Presidential order guaranteeing territorial integrity to Jammu and Kashmir and introduced Article 35A which conferred special rights and privileges to permanent citizens of Jammu and Kashmir which its non-permanent residents, even if they were Indian citizens, were not entitled to. This order was passed with the concurrence of the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the state constituent assembly dissolved itself without recommending the abrogation of Article 370, the article was deemed to have become a permanent feature of the Indian Constitution.

On 5 August 2019, the Indian government issued a Presidential Order superseding the 1954 order, and making all the provisions of the Indian constitution applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. The order was based on the resolution passed in both houses of India's parliament with two-thirds majority. A further order on 6 August made all the clauses of Article 370 except clause 1 to be inoperative.