SRINAGAR: Despite being prohibited, the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir plans to field its former affiliates as Independent candidates in the upcoming Assembly elections. This decision followed a day after the Government of India’s special UAPA tribunal reaffirmed the ban on the organization.
In March this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notification establishing the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal, led by a Delhi High Court judge, to assess whether the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JeI) should be classified as an ‘unlawful association.’
The tribunal supported the Central Government’s ban on the group, extending it for another five years. The tribunal also agreed with the government’s stance that the organization was involved in separatist activities and consistently supported militants and their ideology on the ground.
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The MHA’s notification stated, “Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir (JeI) has been declared an unlawful association, via a notification dated February 27, 2024, published in the Gazette of India. Therefore, under the powers granted by section 5(1) and section 4(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Central Government at this moment forms the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal, with Justice Navin Chawla, Judge, High Court of Delhi, presiding, to adjudicate whether the JeI is an unlawful association.”
Sources indicate that Jamaat-e-Islami aims to focus on approximately six seats in Southern Kashmir, including Kulgam, Devsar, Bijbehara, Zainapora, Tral, Pulwama, and Rajpora. An insider from the group told The New Indian, “We thoroughly debated three strategies: forming a new front, joining an alliance, or contesting as Independents.” After dismissing the idea of an alliance and recognizing the time constraints in registering a new front, the group decided to compete as Independents.
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In May 2024, Ghulam Qadir Wani, former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, who cast his vote in the Lok Sabha election for the Srinagar constituency, remarked, “We did not boycott elections; we refrained due to the circumstances in Kashmir. If the ban on Jamaat is lifted, we will participate in the upcoming assembly election.” The cadre-based group considered the ideological backbone of the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist organization, was initially banned on February 28, 2019.
The Jamaat, which boasts around 6,000 members in Jammu and Kashmir, has faced bans twice before—first by the Indira Gandhi administration in 1975 and again from 1990 to 1995 following the onset of terrorism in Kashmir. The latest ban in 2019 by the Union government led to widespread raids and arrests targeting the group.