Article 370 abrogation set stage for integration of PoK with India: Imam Ilyasi

Suhail Khan

Srinagar, Apr 3: The Chief Imam of the All India Imam Organisation, Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, on Friday said that the abrogation of Article 370 has not only transformed Jammu and Kashmir but has also set the stage for the “very soon” reintegration of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) with India.

Speaking to reporters here, Ilyasi, as per Kashmir Convener, credited the August 5, 2019, decision to strip the former state of its special status as the turning point that has made PoK residents aspire for merger with India.

“PoK, which is an integral part of India, will definitely rejoin India because the people of PoK want to have a referendum there,” Ilyasi said, asserting that the development and prosperity witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir post-Article 370 abrogation had become a “model” for people across the Line of Control.

“God willing, their ‘ghar wapsi’ will take place soon. It is the people there who want it. They are happy to see the development of Kashmir. Seeing how Kashmir is progressing today, PoK will be rejoined with India very soon,” he said.

The cleric said he was “very happy” to see what he called a “new Kashmir” emerge after the constitutional change. “Today’s Kashmir has become excellent; there is prosperity throughout, and tourism has increased. The people here are prosperous. There was a time when young people and children here used to throw stones. Today, they have pens in their hands. They are studying,” he said.

Referring to last year’s terror attack in Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam that left 25 tourists and a local pony handler dead, Ilyasi acknowledged a brief dip in tourist footfall but urged people to visit the region, asserting that the security situation had improved dramatically post-Article 370.

“I want to tell everyone that they should visit Kashmir as there is no atmosphere of fear now,” he said.

On the conflict in West Asia, Ilyasi said war benefits no one and expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would mediate for peace. “Wars harm everyone; they are a sign of destruction. I have hopes from our country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, and God willing, he will mediate, and the war will end soon… there will be peace and tranquillity,” he added.

 

Umer Ahmed Ilyasi further said that the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board has emerged as a “success story” under its current leadership, citing administrative reforms and welfare measures.

Ilyasi said the functioning of the Board under its chairperson, Syed Darakhshan Andrabi, reflects “positive changes” in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.