Politics is possible?

Two teenage boys killed in a gun-battle in North Kashmir, and four policemen in South. This is bare news; how do we interpret it.

One, six lives lost in Kashmir to armed violence – empty statistics.

Two, Indian Army neutralises two terrorists at Mujgund, North Kashmir, and in Shopian, South Kashmir, four policemen killed in a terrorists attack – State speaks. Three, Two Mujahideen martyred at Mujgund, North Kashmir, and four policemen, part of state security apparatus, done to death in a daring attack by Mujahideen in Shopian, South Kashmir – Resistance broadcast.

Good, bad or ugly, all three readings have takers; each carrying an explanation. But there is another way to read this news. In two incidents of armed action, six Kashmiri-Muslims lose lives; two in North Kashmir, four in South. Grief all along.

I take this last reading to build a case for lost politics; the politics called Kashmir-Muslim. In the earlier three readings, this politics vanishes. A fuller discussion on these readings is required, but here I use it as preface to a conversation on is politics possible in Kashmir, or may be for an assertion that politics is possible in Kashmir.

This discussion hosts multiple themes, so a series of columns.

The rise of BJP in 2014 elections displaced two things; massively. At the country level, it bulldozed Congress, and shovelled off the wreckage to margins. Congress nearly vanished. Many read it as an end of Nehru-Gandhi story. At the state level, regional parties were sent into panic. Like a monster BJP clawed its way into the deeper political spaces. State after state BJP made it to the chair. The biggies of Indian regional politics fell one after another. If anyone survived, he found wisdom in forming alliance with the BJP.

Just after the monster reared its head in India, J&K went for Assembly elections. Kashmir-Muslim politics came into sharp focus. The lines drawn were too clear to miss; even a blind could sense. PDP, as an electoral party, looked at it in an evil way; its inbuilt fault. Rather than recovering the body by an inch, it pushed it further down into ground by a yard.

Late Mufti M Saeed sliced his political reasoning into two neat parts; both wicked. One perfectly used to maximise the chances of winning, other brazenly abused to get to the chair. PDP election campaign centred around the rhetoric of keeping the beast at bay. The Kashmir-Muslim political space was electrified to ensure maximum possible voting in Kashmir, and in the Muslim areas of Jammu Province. It paid well, but not too well to get a majority. Mufti could see the chair but was tethered a few steps away.

 If I recall those moments rightly, Kashmir was full of deliberations on what to do. Homes, offices, streets, pavements, cafe shops, campuses, buses, cars, – it was a pell mell speaking up. Those who knew Mufti Saeed suggested him not to join hands with BJP. Those who knew anyone in PDP beseeched to tell Mufti not to make the mistake of aligning with the BJP. And those who knew anyone who knew anyone in PDP rushed in with their bit of advice. All sounds, near and distant, made one note: No BJP.

Late Mufti Saeed picked up the second slice of his political reasoning. BJP is a reality, not just now, but for another decade, he thought to himself. To stay in power you can’t stay away from the BJP. This was Late Mufti’s second slice in a nutshell. There was nothing new in this. Late Sheikh M Abdullah is the Adam of our political eden who tasted this fruit long years before. What happened to Adam, happened to Sheikh Sahab. Mufti too was disrobed.

PDP sensed this nakedness the moment BJP pressed the lights on. From that moment on, it’s scrambling to catch hold of some leaves to cover the shame. Since NC is already denuded, the two are partners in this shame. BJP now counted on limbs. The advantage with the limbs is that once you chop them off the body there is no sense of nakedness, hence no shame. This sounded some alarm bells and the two in the raw made a deal. Even this small act slammed the door for BJP shut. The assembly was dissolved, and a period put to the politics in Kashmir.

There is an undercurrent of excitement over this, though no outward expression. The reason for this is the deep seated disappointment with the electoral politics in Kashmir, represented by NC and PDP. At this moment BJP’s defeat in the Assembly elections of five Indian state adds to the undercurrent of excitement, but again no outwards expression. Reasons are easy to gather. The Congress is no different than the BJP when it comes to Kashmir. Both disrobed Kashmir’s politics in similar ways. In this, Modi was a faithful follower of Nehru, as was Mufti of Sheikh. Now if the choice at the bottom is between the NC and the PDP, and at the top between the Congress and the BJP, where is my politics placed?

Let the discussion begin. Life, and the future of life are at stake. Two teens, four policemen – all Kashmiri Muslim lives. Lives part of a bigger network of lives – families, relatives, friends, professions, neighbourhood, parties, ideologies, society. That is what comprises politics.

Post Script: Please don’t read theology in Kashmir-Muslim. Kashmir is territory, Muslim population. Rest originates from this.

mrvaid@greaterkashmir.com