Srinagar: Reiterating election boycott call, Kashmir’s socio-religious organization Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)Thursday said that its cadre won’t take part in upcoming parliamentary polls but the group can’t stop sympathizers from voting.
Talking to GNS over phone from New Delhi, JeI chief, Muhammad Abdullah Wani said: “The Jamaat’s Majlis-e-Shura (Central Advisory Council – the main decision making body of the party) has announced that the party won’t participate in the upcoming polls. We have directed our cadre not to vote for any mainstream party as all of them are same for us.”
Wani, however, said: “Though we have called for boycott, but we can’t stop those who are going to vote even if the person will be Jamaat’s sympathizer.”
Elaborating further, the Jamaat chief said: “A Jamaat cadre is accountable to the organization but a sympathizer isn’t.”
Wani, while reacting to National Conference leader, Mustafa Kamal’s allegations that Jamaat will vote for Peoples Democratic Party in the elections, said: “I don’t know from where he gets such information. It is baseless and far away from the ground realities.”
“In 2008, two Jamaat members from Doda had been found involved in casting their vote but strict action was taken against them,” he informed.
“Last time we took part in elections under the banner of Muslim United Front (MUF) in 1987 but since then we haven’t participated in any election,” he said.
He said Jamaat believes that long pending issue of Kashmir should be solved according to United Nations resolutions or tripartite talks between India, Pakistan and Kashmir. (GNS)