A woman from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), married to a local, has won sarpanch and panch seats uncontested from north Kashmir’s Kupwara on Tuesday.
“Arifa Begum, 35, has won the elections. She has all required documents like voter identity card etc. to contest the polls,” said Additional Commissioner (Revenue), Kupwara, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din.
Ms. Begum, a resident of PoK capital Muzaffarabad’s Palandari village, had submitted her nomination papers for both panch and sarpanch seats from Khumriyal-B in Kupwara.
Locals said Ms. Begum’s husband Ghulam Mohammad Mir crossed the Line of Control and sneaked into PoK in 2001 “apparently for arms training.” In 2010, Mr. Mir took the Nepal route to return to his village, while availing the then “rehabilitation policy for stranded youth in PoK” offered by the government and has surrendered.
“During my stay in Muzaffarabad, I met the girl and decided to marry her,” Mr. Mir was quoted saying in an interview. Ms. Begum has been provided “adequate security,” as separatists and militants have called for a boycott of the elections.
129 in fray
At least 129 candidates are in the fray for 59 sarpanch halqas and 532 candidates for 455 panch wards in Kupwara.
The Jammu and Kashmir Constitution reserves 25 seats in the Assembly for the representatives of people of PoK.
A nine-phase poll for the grass-root level institution has begun on November 11. The previous elections were held in 2011 and around 80% voters participated in the polls.
According to the State Election Commission, 4,483 panchayat halqas comprising 35,029 panch constituencies will be elected in nine phases. A total of 58,54,208 voters are registered for the polls.
