Even though the central government had banned the Jamat-e-Islami (JeI) in 2019, it puzzlingly allowed the banned hardline group to contest elections on multiple seats in Kashmir valley. Many experts are of the opinion that the JeI was allowed to contest elections and run a communally vitriolic campaign by the BJP so as to scuttle the chances of the India Alliance candidates, and thereby give advantage to the BJP and its proxies. However, as the result shows, the people have rejected the BJP and its proxies besides the Jamat, and have overwhelmingly given the mandate to the India Alliance which ran on the promise of restoration of constitutional rights for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Coming to the Kulgam constituency which turned out to be a real ideological battleground with two sharply opposing ideologies in the fray, the electorate there has shown the way to everyone in the country especially at a time when reactionary or far right forces seem to be capturing the public imagination everywhere. Through electing a leftist candidate in the face of a communally vitriolic campaign by Jamat-e-Islami, they have preferred secularism, democracy and sanity, and have out rightly rejected the regressive and reactionary politics of far-right Jamat-e-Islami like they have been doing since 1996. They have put people’s politics over everything including appeals to the hardline Islamist identity as Jamat-e-Islami did. Jamat-e-Islami freely used the pulpit and appeals to Islamist identity to garner votes even though the law of the land prohibits the use of religion for electoral gains. Jamat kept repeating that it is fighting the election for the sake of Islam and to defeat secularism. Despite fighting elections in a secular country like ours and under a secular constitution, Jamat, in its rallies, kept projecting their opponents as “enemies of Islam” and equated secularism with “kuffur”(anti-Islamic).  For instance, in a campaign rally at Kulgam Fruit Mandi on 12-09-2024, Sayar Ahmad provocatively stated, “If, God forbid, I lose tomorrow, people won’t say that Sayar Ahmad lost, but that Islam lost. It will be said that the followers of Islam, those who recite Azaan lost. It’ll be said that Islam lost, and followers of Allah and Hazrat Muhammad SAW lost.” Just prior to the voting day, he called upon his followers to celebrate another Eid on the Election Day after voting for him. There have been accounts indicating that activists and members of Jamat-e-Islami visited numerous homes in the region, carrying copies of the Holy Quran. They requested individuals to pledge by the sacred text that they would exclusively cast their votes for Jamat-e-Islami. Minority sects were also targeted and cajoled to vote for the Jamat for “restoring Islamic glory back in Kulgam.” In certain instances, individuals who have been charged by law enforcement agencies as Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and terror recruiters, and who were convicted under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and are currently out on bail, have been observed actively campaigning for Jamat-e-Islami. Reports also indicate that numerous Jamatis persuaded the extremists who questioned the Jamat’s abrupt shift on elections by asserting that their participation in the elections was merely a “tactical maneuver” and that Jamat-e-Islami would steadfastly uphold its foundational ideological principles.

It is important to note that Jamat-e-Islami had refrained from participating in elections for the past three decades due to its association with the Secessionist movement and its pro-Pakistan stance. Numerous scholars and government officials have alleged that the organization has supported Hizbul Mujahideen, which is considered its militant faction. A significant portion of the population in Kashmir, along with members of the security establishment, accuses Jamat of facilitating militancy and the assassination of political activists, particularly those affiliated with the secular formations like National Conference, Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), during the tumultuous period of militant violence in the 1990s and 2000s, which was heavily endorsed by Pakistan.

In response to the highly vitriolic campaign and communal slurs of Jamat targeting him and his party, Comrade Tarigami stood his defiant ground. His campaign reflected decency even while Jamatis and their ally Engineer Rashid, were hurling vilest of abuses at him in the public. Tarigami was civilized and refined in his campaigning as ever, and continued to talk about Kashmiriyat, pluralism, farmers’ and working peoples’ rights especially Apple farmers as he has done in the past. He continued to talk about the constitutional rights and federalism which have come under assault in J&K as a result of BJP’s actions and policies. He was no way going to be caught in the communal trap which was being set by BJP through its unholy proxies like Jamat. Since August 2019, Comrade Tarigami has taken an unequivocal stand against the anti-people policies of BJP and against the unjust dilution of the special status of the state. He continued to raise voice against the unjust policies of BJP on the campaign trail in a fearless manner. Recently, he led a protest of his followers in Srinagar against the genocidal actions of Israel in the Middle East, the sole politician to undertake such a protest in the state. Comrade Tarigami continued to talk about the statehood which has been deprived in the most unconstitutional and brazen manner. On his campaign trail, he continued to talk about the people who had been left at the mercy of the bureaucratic rule which was creating immense hardships for them. In this scenario, the people of the state were facing problems from all corners as there was also a stagnation happening on the front of livelihood and development. The Governor administration with its apathetic bureaucratic raj had completely failed to address the issues of the people of the state. All this had resulted in a deep sense of anger and betrayal among the people in the state in general and valley in particular. While Comrade Tarigami campaigned on these most pressing issues, his opponents like Jamat-e-Islami avoided talking about issues like special status abrogation, downgrading of statehood and even assault on the fundamental constitutional rights of the people of J&K. They had no concrete programme to offer and their only talking points were brazen communalism and sectarianism besides attacks on the secularist stance of Tarigami. It appears that JeI was merely adhering to the script of the RSS-BJP which led to their rejection by the people of Kulgam. Despite the Takfiri (radical extremism) ideology espoused by Jamat-e-Islami, majority of the people of Kulgam, like in the rest of valley, continue to follow the humanistic and pluralistic ethos of revered Sufi figures such as Lalla Ded, Sheikul Alam, Syed Simnan, and others.

Born into a farmers’ family in 1949, Tarigami became drawn to communist ideology at the age of 18 when he and his friends organized a protest advocating for an increase in the intake capacity at Anantnag Degree College. Influenced by prominent Kashmiri leftist figures such as Abdul Kabir Wani and Chaman Lal Kantroo, he subsequently engaged in numerous farmers’ movements throughout Jammu and Kashmir. His first imprisonment occurred in 1967, following his leadership in a protest against the forced procurement of rice, and he faced incarceration again in 1975 while advocating for the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people. During his time in prison, he suffered the loss of his wife. The residents of Kulgam continue to regard Comrade Tarigami as their genuine representative, recognizing his lifelong commitment to fighting for their basic rights both within the legislative assembly and beyond. By electing Comrade Tarigami for an unprecedented fifth consecutive term, they have reaffirmed their support for pluralistic and people-centered politics, simultaneously rejecting the communal and sectarian agenda of Jamat-e-Islami. They have thus shown the way to the rest of the world where unfortunately far-right reactionaries seem to be increasingly swaying the peoples’ imagination.

Aqib Inshaab, Research Scholar, University of Kashmir

Courtesy: Counter Currents

The post Democracy, Pluralism and People’s Politics: Kulgam Shows the Way appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Since July 2016, sustained threats and some sporadic attacks have left the 808 Kashmiri Pandit families in the Valley, threatened. On October 29, 2016, Sabrangindia had reported how a petrol bomb was flung at the home of one such cluster of Pandits living in the Valley. A representation to prime minister Modi had not elicited a response.
 
Again, yesterday, November 25, a petrol bomb was flung at a cluster of families of Pandits at the Mirhama village in Kulgam around 6.30 p.m. Then another attack took place aimed at a cluster of families living in Traperpora in Shopian district
 
Yet another representation by Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti told SabrangIndia to the prime minister has not evoked any response.

The non-migrant Kashmiri Pandir community still living in the vlley consists of 808 families scattered all over conflict-ridden Kashmir. A letter by the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) through its president, Sanjay Tickoo, clearly lays out that since 1990 –when the mass exodus of Pandits from the valley took place—these 808 Kashmiri Pandit families were provided security from the State Government by creating “Minority Security Pickets” close to the KP dwellings.
 
These security measures have played a significant role and in building the confidence of minorities living in Valley. However, since early July 2016– after the encounter of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani –this security cover has been withdrawn at most of places, making the minorities more vulnerable.
 
The text of the Representation to the prime minister may be read here:

To
 
The Hon’ble Prime Minister,
Union of India,
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi – 110011
 
Subject:       Security Concern of Minorities (Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits) living in Kashmir Valley.
 
Esteemed Sir,
 
With reference to the subject cited above it is most humbly submitted as under:
 
As per government records nearly 808 Kashmiri Pandit families are living in Kashmir Valley after the mass exodus of KP Community after 1990 armed uprising in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. These families are living at different places in the Kashmir Valley and till date these families were provided security from the State Government by creating “Minority Security Pickets” close to the KP dwellings. Though, in Kashmir real security to life is only in the hands of God, Himself, but for presumed security these “Minority Security Pickets” are playing a big role and is one of the basic Security Confidence to the Minorities living in Valley. But after the encounter of Hizb Commander Burhan Wani, this security cover is withdrawn at most of the places, making the minorities more vulnerable for any untoward Security mishaps. Either this is being done deliberately to create Security panic in the minds of minorities and they leave Kashmir of their own or there is some under-cover agenda to pave ways for another massacre of the Kashmiri Pandits living in Kashmir Valley.
 
It may not be out of place to mention here that after the encounter of Burhan Wani, the count of militants in Kashmir Valley has increased many folds and are causing threat to the security of the State as well as to the minorities living in Kashmir Valley.
 
As such, it is requested to review the decision of withdrawal of Security to the minorities living in Kashmir Valley at an earliest and a further request that the security be re-install at all the places with additional man force, else it will be clear that some conspiracy with malafide intentions is being hatched against this miniscule community living in Kashmir Valley.
 
Yours faithfully
 
 
Sanjay K. Tickoo
President
+91-9906564741

Copy to the:
1.       Hon’ble Chief Minister, State of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar
2.       Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau, Gupkar Road, Srinagar 
3.       Inspector General of Police (CID), State of Jammu and Kashmir, Sgr.

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