There is a lot of anxiety among Kashmiris after BJP’sresounding win in the just concluded Parliament elections. This anxiety stemsfrom how BJP and its right wing partners have upped the ante on abrogating thestate’s identity. Under such circumstances, the default option for Kashmiris isto fight such forces, and defeat their nefarious designs. But unfortunately,what is being witnessed are attempts to divide not only the voice of the peoplebut also create conditions for a fractured mandate, an outcome that will onlyhelp the detractors of Jammu and Kashmir.
This is best reflected in recent developments of thepolitical landscape of Kashmir that witnessed a alliance of two north Kashmirbased politicians – Er. Abdul Rasheed of AIP, and Shah Faesal of JKPM.Technically there is nothing wrong in floating parties or forming alliances butone needs to see the larger picture in Kashmir’s context to assess the natureand consequences of these. The question that must be posed against the backdropof the formation of new parties like the JKPM is: what effect will theseparties and alliances have on the mandate from Kashmir -a different winner fromevery mohalla and no common representative voice?
In the past too many such attempts have been planned andexecuted, the PDP and the People’s Conference being the most recent and glaringexample. The former that began with the same premise and arguments as JKPM orAIP today wasted no time in initiating work on the burial of the JKNC that hashistorically been the bulwark against overt and covert attempts to abrogatestates autonomy, its special status and thereby its unique identity. Elected topower, the PDP forgot its vows to people and shamelessly danced to the tunes ofBJP, its alliance partner, an inimical political force that could never havedreamt of having a foothold in Kashmir let alone form a government in J&K.
PDPs debut into politics was based on providing an’alternative’ to NC. It vehemently criticized, opposed and demonized NCleadership. Now that PDP stands exposed, it has been ditched by BJP which seemsto have shifted its support covertly as well as overtly to new politicalformations in Kashmir.
As far as the politics of PC is concerned, I have nothingmuch to say about them as people have already realized who they are and whattheir idea of Kashmir is. They are, as they themselves claim, younger siblingsof BJP. With them, there are no pretensions. They have explicitly expressedtheir view towards BJP and its brand of politics.
As a student of politics and a keen watcher of Kashmir’semerging political situation, it has become a norm here to view every newpolitical dispensation with suspicion. These suspicions however are notunfounded with many instances where the orientation of new political outfits asassumed earlier turned out to be true.
With the coming together of JKPM and AIP, I somehow wantedto feel optimistic about the alliance considering how important it is to have agenuine opposition but the way so called “change-oriented” parties in Kashmirare operating, it is not difficult to foresee what could be on the horizon: adivided voice and mandate.
Banking on the slogan of “change”, a word that has become aproxy inglorious agenda, people like Dr Faesal, Er Rasheed and Sajjad Loneactually have no argument. Will Shah Faesal care to explain as to what his andhis party’s stand is on Rashid’s open call for Plebiscite? Is he going topursue the same demand? What road-map is he willing to take on Kashmir? Theseare unanswered questions which people deserve to know. So far there is nothingsubstantial on table that AIP-JKPM alliance is offering. They boast of takingpeople’s voice into confidence while formulating their strategies.
Without a roadmap, or a substantive set of policies, anyreference to “change” is merely rhetorical sloganeering which is something thatthe people of Kashmir are rightly and justly cynical and weary about. But thiscritique is not about the substance of these parties’ goals but about theirreal agenda. The idea here is not to raise suspicion but to point out facts.The most glaring of these is that with the floating of new parties, our voicegets divided. This fragmentation can only yield dividends for those forces thatseek to destroy Jammu and Kashmir identity and create a new federal structurethat goes against history, and the essence of our identity. This is no rocketscience but common sense and is something that the people of Kashmir mustmaintain their guard against.
Jammu and Kashmir’s history is replete with instances ofconspiracies, and toxic agendas where the politics of proxy has been thedefault mode to alter the states’ identity and status. The latest shenanigansare no different. The target of these has been the National Conference, theparty that actually has been at the vanguard of defending and promoting state’sidentity and interests. History is witness to this fact that cannot be denied.We, as a party, stand by our historical commitments with a view toward thefuture as well as the present, and have faith in the people’s collective wisdomto see through the agendas of parties that claim to be agents of change, butare actually new manifestations of old strategies to divide and rule.
The author is Provincial Spokesperson JKNC. Twitter handle@ImranNDar