Kashmiris affirm faith in democratic polity
THE union territories of J&K and Ladakh, remains of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, went to the polls in five phases. According to reports, Kashmir, home to the bulk of the UT’s population but the smallest in size, recorded a voter turnout that was the highest since 1996. Srinagar saw 38.49 per cent polling, Baramulla 59.1 per cent and Anantnag — its Kashmiri predominance sought to be blunted by the addition of Jammu division’s Poonch-Rajouri districts — 54.84 per cent.
The lotus is unlikely to bloom in Kashmir unless the BJP reinvents itself for the Kashmiris.
The results demonstrate a sharp communal divide between the Muslim-majority Kashmir and Ladakh and Hindu-majority Jammu, a polarisation accentuated by the religious appeal made to voters by contenders on both sides of the Pir Panjal. The Hindutva agenda of the BJP, which took both seats in Jammu — constituencies crafted by the Delimitation Commission to buttress their religious identity — was matched by the distinct religious grounding of each of the candidates in the Valley, although the latter was free from sectarianism. In fact, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, the triumphant National Conference (NC) candidate from Srinagar who belongs to the first family of the Shia Muslim community in Kashmir, broke with precedent by openly apologising on behalf of his community for having failed to prevent the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley when J&K was, like now, under the administration of the Union Government in 1990-96.
Is this then the beginning of a new era in the troubled region? It is well to remember that this was the first election in Jammu and Kashmir since the Modi government’s revocation of the limited political autonomy that the state had enjoyed under the Constitution with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The turnout in the elections in the Valley and Ladakh is indicative of the determination of Kashmiris and Ladakhis to oust the BJP government at the Centre. Although the trends from the beginning favoured former NC leader Mohammed Haneefa, who won the Ladakh seat as an independent, this is not necessarily a resurgence of the party but a bid to rally behind it to defeat the ruling party at the Centre. The fact that the NC’s star candidate, former CM Omar Abdullah, was unseated simply affirms this as the elected candidate, Engineer Rashid (who got nearly 46 per cent of the vote against Abdullah’s 26 per cent) has himself been an advocate of Azadi, for which he has been in the Tihar Jail for the past five years under UAPA. His campaign got going at the last moment, led by his two sons.
What we are witness to specifically is a consolidation of the votes against the BJP, the party responsible for the abrogation. It might be recalled that earlier, both leading parties rooted in Kashmir — the NC and the PDP — had been willing to work with the BJP. The last elected government was a BJP-PDP combine. As borne out by the election campaigns of each, even the BJP’s supposed allies like Sajjad Lone’s People’s Conference have been obliged to distance themselves from that party before making any appeal for support to the public.
The BJP did not field any candidate from any seat in Kashmir. Home Minister Amit Shah was quoted as saying that it would take time for the lotus to bloom in Kashmir. But the election results show that unless the party reinvents itself for the Kashmiris and Ladakhis, this is unlikely. Of all Indian leaders whom J&K has seen as PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is readily the most loved.
Let alone support for the BJP, then, even association with that party has no takers in Srinagar. I was in the Valley in the first week of May, staying in homes of friends in Srinagar, including downtown, and in Sopore. Engineer Rashid’s emergence as a possible challenger to Abdullah was yet to crystallise. Hostility to the BJP was palpable and universal.
Candidates had more to say against the BJP on the campaign trail than against each other. Different segments of Kashmir’s political firmament were united against the party ruling in New Delhi. The message that the Kashmiris have given is loud and clear. Although violence has indeed abated in the UT — and I venture to continue to hold this view despite the violent incidents that rocked Kulgam and Poonch during the election process — the reasons for this are not to be found in any sense of satisfaction among the people with the extant administration, but instead an increased alienation.
Yet, simultaneously, for those who hold Kashmir dear like myself, there is a bright silver lining. The people who turned out to vote show that increasingly, despite the alienation, there is a realisation that the democratic process, rather than the gun, has the potential to bring remedies to political and social travails. Although there is anger against the current political leadership, there is a new-found faith in India and the leverage given to its people through the vote.
The representatives of the two leading political dynasties of the region, both Kashmiris, faced a rebuff. But the democratic process eclipsed since the 1990s is alive and vibrant and, in their confidence in participating in the process, what is manifest is the realisation of the Kashmiris that they can be part of the governance of the country that is theirs as much as it is of any other Indian.
