Historic election in J&K

“It is a historic election in  Jammu and Kashmir.” This is the most common sentence used by political  leadership of all parties to emphasise importance of the three-phase polls beginning September 18.

Having said this, more than anyone else, the people of two regions of the Kashmir valley and Jammu, know that this is a high stake election. They have got the chance to script history through their vote, in which  the level of their participation will count the most, and more than to whom they vote. The parties in Jammu and Kashmir have their own agendas and some of them have been listed in their manifestoes. The parties know that all what they have promised in their manifestoes is a mix of make believe world and some ground realties. This gives them a leeway to evade issues at the end of the elections. Ironically, all of them are aware that what will be the outcome of these  elections on October 8.

There also is a question; whether the historical nature would be known only after the results are out  or  it is being scripted even today. The parties seemed to have learnt no lessons from the history of Jammu and Kashmir polls held in the past. There is extreme toxicity in the political discourse. Personal attacks have become a norm. This will consume J&K, and as they say history might repeat itself  as is its nature.

First, the parties that were part of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) had come together for what they believed was their common cause to assert Kashmir’s identity, dignity, culture and ethos under Article 370, are now accusing  one another of aligning with BJP; that all of them think is responsible for the abrogation of Article 370.

In a bid to make each other look suspicious, the PAGD parties, National Conference, PDP, People’s Conference  ( to name few)  are sowing seeds of suspicion among the voters who are wondering whether the alliance was just a marriage of convenience, which started unravelling with PC of Sajad Gani Lone parting ways on the issue of parties breaching the agreement  drafted before the DDC polls in 2020. It finally broke off  on the eve of the parliamentary elections early this year. The erstwhile alliance is still lost in the seat-sharing mindset. The people know what all is happening and why.

There is a grand opportunity for  these  regional parties, particularly National Conference which entered into a pre-poll alliance with Congress, repeating what it did, though in an altogether different  circumstances, on the eve of 1987 polls, to prove that they are serious and mean business. With Farooq Abdullah, the tallest leader of J&K, being there, it is expected that the narratives stay out of the fault lines that had landed the state in a mess 37 years ago. It is a grand opportunity to erase the stigma of the 1987.

In fact,  Dr. Farooq Abdullah should advise Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that J&K of today is not  that of her grandmother Indira Gandhi’s times.  Much has changed and the  political rhetoric should stay within limits. The attacks on individuals never serve any purpose nor help in course-correction. Yes, this is a reference to the price that J&K paid after the 1983 elections, which led to July 1984 crisis when J&K – the moment when quest for power sought to alter the people’s verdict. It is also true that there were collaborators  from within – that was a prelude to what happened in 1987. This time around, those moments should be recalled to draw necessary lessons. Historians are watching!

BJP, which has become a major player in J&K politics since 2014 parliamentary and Assembly polls, has bigger responsibility than others, to set a narration that takes care of the sensitivities and sensibilities of all the people across the two regions of this union territory. It has a lot to count about what it calls  its achievements in the past 10  years, essentially that is all about since the abrogation of Article 370, which it believes was a watershed moment  in nation’s history.

There is palpable normalcy in Kashmir, which the party measures through the footfall of tourists and decline in the number of violent incidents. It has introduced many firsts to the daily life of the people in J&K  since 1989-1990, the task  ahead is equally daunting to naturalise these changes. Some critical  points are missing, and it is believed that the vote in Kashmir, in particular would be a demand to address the gaps.

And, from any stretch of imagination, this is a not a region-specific election. This election is about the whole of Jammu and Kashmir, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi  declared at his rally in Doda on  September 14  that these polls will decide  the destiny of the whole of the UT, though  during his 43-minute speech he continuously referred to  the territory as “ Jammu Kashmir Rajya”, that is state of J&K. True, it is  for the party in power at the Centre to  deliver on its promise made on the floor of the Parliament on August 5, 2019, to restore statehood to J&K.

The appropriate time clause is enigmatic. A clarity is needed on this, and it is hoped that PM, and the HM will clear the air sooner than later on this. The elected Assembly should be akin to the legislative  assembly in other states. And, again at the risk of repeating it, BJP has greatest opportunity and responsibility to correct the course. It, I am sure, knows how to do it to script the history of J&K in 2024. All it has to do is to take a call in time without riders. Who knows it better than PM Modi that timely action  always delivers good results for the nation .