As the elections are coming closer politicians have started raking up different issues to woo voters. National Conference has announced that if the party is voted to power it would restore the regional autonomy and would set up Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe the killings which have taken place since 1990. Politicians are back with their old packages packed in new wrappers.
Kashmir based parties are talking about the issues which are related to the Valley and are trying to strike a chord with the people. Parties in Jammu region too have started the election campaign but the Jammu based politicians have started their campaign with Kashmir as their agenda. It seems that they enjoy bashing Kashmiri leaders and derive “sadistic pleasure” by raking up the issues related to Kashmir. These leaders should focus on the issues which touch the skin of a common man in Jammu region rather than talking about what’s happening in Kashmir.
These days president of Peoples Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti too seems to have shifted her focus towards Jammu. She recently claimed that members of Gujjar and Bakerwal community are being targeted in Jammu region and a conspiracy is being hatched to snatch their land.
It’s unfortunate that politicians for their political gains are trying to create a wedge between the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Someone needs to tell these leaders people of Jammu and Kashmir regions trust each other. For Kashmiris Jammu is second home. Trade between the Jammu and Kashmir is the mainstay of the state’s economy. Despite J&K witnessing turmoil for the past 30-years relations between the people of Jammu and Kashmir have remained unaffected. In fact turmoil has brought the people of both the regions closer to each other during the past three decades.
Jammu based leaders should stop selling Kashmir in Jammu and focus on what they can do for the people they want to represent. Mehbooba Mufti and PDP should stop worrying about Gujjars and Bakerwals and needs to concentrate on south Kashmir, where her party won maximum seats in 2014 assembly elections.
People who are making attempts to divide Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh on religious and ethnic lines need to realize that all these three regions are interdependent on each other for their survival. Politics is okay but that doesn’t mean that politicians can go to any extent to remain relevant. Jammu based politicians should stop raising the bogey of discrimination. They cannot befool the people anymore. They have to prove it to the people of Jammu region that they have worked for them and they deserve to represent them. Just raising hollow slogans won’t do them any good. Times have changed so have the voters they cannot be taken for a ride by playing communal and religious cards. If the politicians really want to win the elections and prove their mettle then they would have to act on ground rather than delivering lip service.
As the election campaign is picking up the politicians are making all possible attempts to raise the pitch. One class of politicians is completely banking upon the communal card and wants to fight the elections on the basis of religion only. There are speculations that one of the disgruntled BJP leaders has already raised a banner of revolt in Jammu region and is all set to contest the forthcoming polls independently along with few likeminded people. His agenda is clear that he wants to lure the voters by talking about Kashmir and by telling the voters that BJP failed to handle Kashmir.
Politicians have kept their fingers crossed and are waiting for the Election Commission of India to take a call on the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. If ECI decides to hold the assembly elections along with the parliamentary polls in the state it would mean that political parties would not leave any stone unturned to castigate each other. One thing is clear that none of the political parties would enter into any sort of pre-poll alliance and they would try their best to win as many seats as they can. But one thing is for sure that no single party would get the majority. So politicians should think before firing salvos at each other because they may need each other’s support after the assembly elections end in Jammu and Kashmir.
(The writer is member of jkya.org)
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