By Maroof Raza,
A sure sign of normalcy is the revival of the election process, especially as we have witnessed in J&K, which has after 10 years seen the democratic process with elections In multiple constituencies. Elections are one thing that India does well. This allows the local population the opportunity to exercise their vote and by virtue of that if their candidates win then for them the chance to see the reforms In the State. It is thus a pivotal moment in the history of the state after the withdrawal of Article 370, and the creation of a Union territory much to the opposition of major political parties in J&K. Kashmir’s troubled political history is something which hasn’t been forgotten and therefore there is a suspicion amongst the locals of Jammu and Kashmir of what New Delhi’s game plan could be with these current elections. Since there have been many instances of rigging of election results with the exception of 1977, many leading political parties are most likely to play up on this sentiment to show that Delhi wants to conduct a sham of an election to put in place a government that will sing the ruling BJPs party’s tune.
But it is important to recall the troubled history of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) that tells us that it has seen many elections, in an effort to establish democracy, but most elections have thrown up questionable results with the exception of the 1977 elections. It was clearly won by Sheikh Abdullah’s national conference (NC) which clearly defeated Indira Gandhi’s Congress party in Delhi. His earlier rule was interfered by the mandarins in Delhi leading to his long arrest till his re-election in 1977. But after he died in 1982, his son Farooq took over and came into confrontation with Mrs Gandhi. Rioting followed the allegations of rigging in places like Anantnag, that led to President’s rule, that overturned elected governments causing a lot of bitterness between Delhi and Srinagar. There were political deals and horse trading all leading to candidates being bought and thrust on the people by the rival parties and their CMs.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir felt cheated and began to look for alternatives other than engaging in the election process. Most of their sympathisers in India insisted that they give the Kashmiris elected governments and all will be honky dory thereafter. This gave Pakistan a fertile ground to build on the anti- India sentiment that began to give rise in J and K, which became a fertile playground for Pakistan’s India agenda. A tipping point was the 1987 elections which by most accounts was rigged. And the Jamat’s many candidates gave up hope in Indian democracy and crossed the line of control to go to Pakistan to start a political movement with military dimensions that would in the long run become the insurgency that continues to make the news to haunt Jammu and Kashmir, and its local population especially the youth.
Dozens initially and later hundreds of them came back from Pakistan, trained, armed and motivated to create a separate J&k that would be at odds with the idea of India and it gave rise to political parties like the hardline Hizb ul Mujahideen , led by Syed Salauddin was a victim of the large-scale political rigging during the elections of an of 1980s, and Yasin Malik’s JKLF the Kashmir anti India movement.
Thereafter the three decade long violent insurgency was supported by Pakistan and the ISI, making life miserable for the ordinary people of J&K and leading to an absolute disruption of the culture of tolerance that had earlier been the hallmark of J&K. Any effort to seek compromises with peace and harmony was challenged by calls for separatism and freedom, ‘azadi’. The local political leaders used this sentiment to create their own constituencies, to challenge the ‘idea of India’ and extract any bargain that they could from New Delhi.
And what became the pillar of their bargaining strategy was Article 370, and the autonomy Kashimi leaders felt it gave them within the Indian Union. They did little to address the woes of the local masses. And when the Modi government moved a Parliamentary resolution to abrogate Article 370, the politicians of Kashmir kept threatening to break off links with the Indian Union as J&K was reduced to a UT and Ladakh was created . This took the J&K’s politicians completely by surprise and made their patrons in Pakistan very angry. And it is in this configuration that the current elections are taking place.
The change in J&K’s status after the delimitation exercise has led to many new constituencies. Though none of the constituencies overlap two districts. This gave more opportunities to new political aspirants as the local population had become victims of a system that had been pushed by two major political parties led by the Abdullah & the Muftis. Earlier efforts to find a peaceful solution were hampered by the challenges that continued to crop up by the sudden spurt of people’s anger displayed in agitations that followed the death of militant leaders like Burhan Wani. But New Delhi worked on a strategy to bring back Tourism and economic growth that was so essential for the people. The Fact that Pakistan was in political turmoil, helped India’s efforts as Pakistani leaders were fighting for their own space, so had little time to push their strategy for separation of J&K from India. In this situation, India chose to initiate the local elections which are now taking place. If there is one message that New Delhi has to give to undo the mess that followed the 1987 rigging, it is a free and fair election in 2024, to restore the faith of the Kashmiri masses.
If this happens then New Delhi and Srinagar can certainly congratulate themselves for the gradual return of J&K to normalcy. From then on the foundations of a new J&K can be laid, that a new generation of leaders can build upon. The question is: will Jammu & Kashmir be able to shed the shadows of the Abdullahs and Muftis?
About the author: https://www.maroofraza.com
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