Kashmir LS Results Assert that Leopard doesn’t Change Its Spots: Lalit k kaul
Kashmir LS Election Results Assert that Leopard doesn't Change Its
Spots
Lalit K Kaul
For all the claims of BJP regarding restoration of peace and
normalcy in Kashmir and its intent to buy political affiliations by flooding
J&K with development related Investments leading to creation of job
opportunities for “educated" unemployed, the political landscape in the
Valley has remained unchanged as is clearly evident from the election results. What
are the reasons for it? The following lines attempt to decipher such reasons.
The Character of Muslim Politics:
Religion is not divorced from politics; it plays a significant role
in controlling the political trajectory like a guided missile that's programmed
to hit the target. Those who would have studied the role of the political and
religious leadership of Muslims in partitioning of India would know that
Muslims can be aroused (unified) effortlessly under the banner of Islam. This
becomes very clear when one understands how Jamait-e-Ulema Hind was neutralized
by All India Muslim League and that led to partitioning of India.
Jamait-e-Ulema-Hind always stood for an undivided India and defined
India as Two Quam (Composite) Nation in which every religious group would have
the freedom to practice their respective religion. It didn't invoke Islam;
didn't try to garner support from Muslims on the basis of religion. And, that
turned out to be the death knell of its political worldview.
All India Muslim League, on the contrary, galvanized support among
Muslims by invoking Islam and its teachings. Most of the Jamait-e-Ulema-Hind
members migrated to All India Muslim League. Religion was chosen as main weapon
for achieving trifurcation of a land they had lived in for thousands of years as
Sanatanis and for 8 centuries as Muslims! If Kafirs (Hindus) were to rule over
Muslims, Islam wouldn't survive! In his 14-point letter to Nehruji, Jinnah stressed
on 1) right of a Muslim to slaughter cows and eat its meat and 2) Azaans shall
be allowed from Mosques!! All other points were Muslim centric. Infusing their
politics with religion they did Moplah Riots and Direct Action Day. Rest is the
history.
Politics of Kashmiri Muslim Leadership:
Its fundamental character is no different from the general character
defined above. Same. Religion is inseparable from politics. One of my friends
asked me, on 12th May 2024, as to what would be the outcome of LS
elections in Kashmir, and here is how I analyzed the outcome of results:
The scenario is that PDP is asking people to vote for dignity! Usage
of ‘dignity’ becomes a very powerful instrument for polarization of votes if
it's about dignity of a qaum. And, the narrative that's being built is that
abrogation of Art 370 robbed their qaum of its dignity! Bring in New Domicile
Law and the picture that emerges for the political campaign is: not only
dignity is gone, but qaum's also in imminent threat of being marginalized.
That narrative is powerful enough to influence the rural folks who
don't need to read History/ English/Sciences because they are quite happy
earning their livelihoods the way they have been, since generations. So, they
are prone to get swayed, whatever the facts may be. That's why, perhaps, BJP
leader from Surankot asked people to vote for PDP!
Then we have NC. Their campaign is seeking shahadat! For what? For
the same reasons as that of PDP. “Shahadat” may turn out to be a more powerful
political tool than “dignity" because it connects audience with Islam! And,
it's well known how Muslims organize themselves for making Islam secure!!
Both PDP and NC have an immutable base that's not favourably
inclined towards anything that India stands for and means.
Apni Party, if looked at from above perspective, would turn out to
be a pariah for the rural folks. To the extent that Bukhari can convince voters
that Art 370 is past and that there is no threat to demography in Valley, he
may draw as many votes- may be from urban/ semi-urban/business community votes
in Kashmir.
The narrative built in Kashmir touches hearts of Jammu Muslims too!
In my reply to a tweet, on 2nd June, I tweeted “NC shall
win 3 in Kashmir or the 3 may be shared between NC and PDP". Therefore, I
had already ruled out Apni Party and People's Conference!
Indeed, NC won 2 seats and one was won by Er. Rasheed! The election
of Er Rasheed to Lok Sabha sums up the mood in the Valley! Er Rasheed’s win is
a statement against India's geo-political interests. He and two NC members
representing Kashmir in Lok Sabha shall open up what kind of political dynamics
in Kashmir, and to what extent their speeches inside Lok Sabha would be so
designed as to provide fodder for Pakistan and Turkey, remains to be seen.
The Green and The Saffron:
In my reply, dated 28th May 2024, to a tweet by one
Kashmiri Muslim in which he had regretted his association with BJP, I tweeted
thus:
Saffron and Green r incompatible with each other. Irony! Saffron
& Green r symbols of sacrifice and prosperity respectively; sacrifice by
one generation leads to the prosperity of next. But 1 religion brands Saffron
as “Kafir"! No way Saffron can defeat ideology of Green.
And, we witnessed gunning down of a Kashmir BJP leader while the
election process was on. Earlier also, BJP local level leaders were targeted. Some
Muslim youth who have been active workers of BJP may be under such threats too.
It's a hazardous task undertaken by Kashmiri Muslim youth in order to gain some
sizeable footprints for BJP in Kashmir. Lives may be at stake!
The BJP Response to LS Elections in Kashmir:
It simply fled the scene! Thereby leaving the field open to NC and
PDP. It didn't even dare to test the waters by fielding at least 1 candidate
from Kashmir. Why? Because it was sure that the candidate would be shot dead.
Any promising Kashmiri Muslim youth working for BJP has been shot dead.
That a National party which claims to have restored peace and
normalcy in Kashmir and further claims that local youth are now gravitating
towards idea of development related growth doesn't field her candidate, what
kind of political message it sent to nations outside the contours of Indian
Nation? That it's a total capitulation
before the communal and secessionist forces. And, the results endorsed it.
Kashmiri Pandits-The Gullible:
BJP put its faith in Apni Party and People's Conference! As if they
had a clean slate as far as secessionists and anti-minority activities in Valley
are concerned! The gullible Pandits, perhaps desperate to get some assurances
from their exterminators for their own reasons (this is no criticism of my
community members) chose to vote for Apni Party and People's Conference on the
asking of BJP. What lollypops BJP promised them, they would know; but, in the
end Kashmiri Pandit community votes ended up saving the deposits of Apni Party
and People's Conference! The
exterminators honour was rescued by the exterminated!
This incident betrayed the extent to which BJP can go to exploit the
hapless and the deprived ones for their political gains!
The Gift to Kashmiri Pandits- Great Act of Kashmiriat:
Don't know what gifts BJP shall shower on such Pandits who were forced
to vote for their terminators, but the GREEN immediately delivered very special
gifts to SAFFRON:
1.
Burning Shiv temple in Gulmarg.
2.
Beating and stripping Pandit
woman in Verinag. She is seen to be surrounded by a mob which included men, but
l salute for her courage in resisting the uncivilized and trying to fight back.
The apologists of Kashmiriat immediately invented a theory that her family had
parked car in a Muslim’s land! Even if that may be true, yet it doesn't justify
their barbaric behaviour towards the woman. This is fundamentally the
intolerance ingrained in them against a Pandit.
3.
Attack on pilgrims heading
towards Shivkhori.
4.
In 2017 when Kashmiri Pandit families decided
to migrate to their places of hearth and home from where they were hounded out,
entire Srinagar and other towns went on strike.
That's Kashmiriat.
The 3 Muslim candidates who won have made a statement through above
mentioned barbaric acts that no Pandit shall be allowed to reside anywhere in
the Valley. Waiting for this lady and her family to be gunned down.
The Balloon of Growth Based Development Punctured Need to Re- Strategize:
Political loyalties are not for sale. The political narratives built
by all political parties in the J&K and more particularly in Kashmir are
fundamentally harmful to geo-political interests of India. Winning an election
by rousing passions of common masses on invented fantasies doesn't serve any
good purpose. It only succeeds in keeping the society in a state of turmoil. And,
that's what each and every political outfit has been at.
It can be nobody's claim that prior to Aug 5 2019, there was no
development in the Valley. Thousands of crores of rupees have been transferred
into treasury. Yet despite it, India experienced insurgency and genocide of
Kashmiri Pandit community. Why? Because false narratives were being kept alive-
be it on Art 370, Accession of J and K to India and the role of Pakistan. The
narratives are alive and kicking even today. These narratives need to be
challenged and consigned to the dustbin of history. Until that's done Kashmir
shall remain on the boil.
BJP need reassess the political situation in Kashmir and
re-strategize.
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