What is on Jammu’s mind: J&K Assembly Elections

From the breathtaking peaks of the Pir Panjal range to the hot and humid plains of Kathua, a rich tapestry of diverse communities such as the Gujjars, Kashmiri Pandits and Dogras are poised to cast their votes in the Jammu region in the Assembly elections on September 18, September 25 and October 1.

In the 10 years since the last elections, the political landscape has changed dramatically. The erstwhile state was reconstituted as a Union Territory in 2019, a move that was welcomed by some communities in the Jammu region for “recognising their rights, and for diluting Kashmir’s dominance in the polity”.

Post delimitation in 2022, the Jammu region has 43 Assembly constituencies, up from 37. The Kashmir region got an additional seat, taking the number to 47.

In the run-up to the Assembly elections, multiple factors are at play in different regions and sub-regions of Jammu division. The Muslim-majority districts — Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch — are witnessing consolidation of the community vote-bank. However, in the Hindu-dominated areas like Kathua, Samba and Jammu, the perceived benefits from the withdrawal of J&K’s special status five years back have given way to fears of people from other states settling in the areas for business and jobs.

Increased terror attacks in Jammu region, which was once comparatively peaceful than the Kashmir valley, is a new concern for the security forces. Additional units of the Central Reserve Police Force and Army have been deployed in far-off and mountainous areas to avoid any untoward incident during the elections. At least 40 security personnel have been killed during the past two years in Jammu region alone in terror attacks and encounters.

For most displaced communities, the polls do not offer much hope on the issues they have been highlighting for decades.

Nearly 32,000 families had to flee their homes in Pakistan-occupied J&K (PoJK) in 1947. Now 83, Shanti Devi was six when tribal raiders attacked her village in Bhimber (PoJK). She, along with members of her family, escaped the massacre and came to Rajouri.

With only faint memories and stories told by her parents, she talks about the horror and trauma that people of her community witnessed. “Many of my relatives were killed. We were fortunate,” she says.

Rajiv Chunni, chief of SOS International, an organisation that represents the displaced persons, believes that the new government should focus on the community. “The earlier governments have never fulfilled the promises of reservation in jobs for our youth. The cash compensation has also not been fulfilled completely,” he says.

The J&K administration recently took a decision on the transfer of evacuees’ land, conferring proprietary rights to those displaced in 1947, 1965 and 1971, as also the West Pakistan displaced persons. Evacuee land was left behind by members of the Muslim community who shifted to Pakistan. The Kashmiri Pandits who fled the Valley in 1989-90 and settled in Jammu are still waiting to return home. Members of the community say that all political parties have given them false hopes of rehabilitation in the Valley. As per the official data, nearly 40,000 Hindu families who left the Valley due to terrorism are registered as migrants. The government, under a special PM package, had absorbed over 4,000 KP migrant youth in government jobs in the Valley. In 2022, targeted killings of minorities had shaken these employees. Despite this, a majority of migrants living in Jammu want to return home.

Ajay Chrungoo, chairman of Panun Kashmir, which has been demanding a separate UT within Kashmir region, says the community has been betrayed by all parties. “Like the Congress, the BJP did not recognise that the expulsion of KPs from the Valley was not an ordinary migration, but a forceful expulsion of a community based on their religious beliefs. The Kashmiri Pandits have to understand that these parties have only used them for their political benefits and must vote independently,” he adds.

One set of displaced persons has reason to cheer. The West Pakistani refugees, who migrated in 1947, have got voting rights in the Assembly polls after over seven decades. While these refugees, living along the border belt in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, had the right to vote in parliamentary polls, the erstwhile governments of J&K had not granted them voting rights in the Assembly elections.

West Pakistani Refugees Association chief Labha Ram Gandhi says the Assembly polls are like a festival for the community, who were “ignored by successive Kashmir-centric” governments. “We have got everything we were fighting for. From the right to purchase land to apply for state government jobs, we got these rights after the abrogation of Article 370,” he adds.

Meanwhile, a tussle is brewing in the Pir Panjal range, consisting of Rajouri and Poonch districts. The dominant Gujjars and Bakerwals, who already enjoy Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, have been critical of the Centre for including the Pahari-speaking people of the districts in the ST category earlier this year.

The BJP is also facing the anger of the trading community for suspending the ‘Darbar move’, the practice of shifting of the secretariat between Srinagar and Jammu twice a year. This brought many buyers of goods from the Valley to the Jammu markets. In 2021, the administration put an end to the 149-year-old practice, which cost crores to the state exchequer.

Meanwhile, first-time voters hope that the new government will work to create job opportunities so the youth do not have to move out. Vanshika, who is pursuing LLB in Punjab, says that most of the educated youth do not have job opportunities in J&K. “We are forced to go to other states, away from family, and adapt to new cultures and practices. The new government must work on creating jobs,” she adds.

BJP changes tack, to go it alone

The BJP, that had an unofficial alliance with the Apni Party and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party in the Lok Sabha polls, is going it alone in the Assembly elections. The ‘tie-up’ did not bring any positive results for the saffron party. While the BJP had to face multiple protests from party workers over allocation of tickets to the turncoats who recently joined the party, the Congress also witnessed an internal rebellion after reports that many seats in the Jammu region will be given to the National Conference under their alliance. Later, it was decided that the NC will field its candidates on 51 seats, while the Congress will contest 32 seats. One seat each will be given to the J&K Panthers Party and CPI(M). There will be a friendly contest between the NC and the Congress on five seats — Sopore in Kashmir and Banihal, Bhaderwah, Doda and Nagrota in the Jammu division.

Key issues

Restoration of statehood is one of the major poll issues specially for Kashmir-centric parties. The BJP is raising the issue of radicalisation and terrorism. Some of the other election issues include the promises of

free units of electricity, regularisation of contractual workers and reservation

in jobs for locals.