JAMMU & KASHMIR

 Grave Tasks Await New Govt

 Harkishan Singh Surjeet

COMING almost simultaneously with the results of elections to the National Assembly and provincial assemblies in Pakistan, the results of Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections have highlighted how different the political systems in the two countries are. While the elections in Pakistan have invited flak from a large section of international public opinion, the J&K elections proved the Indian electorate’s political maturity once again. 

 UNPRECEDENTED POLL RESULTS

 These J&K results are unprecedented in the sense that the National Conference, the biggest party in the state and one that played a leading role before independence as well as after it, has suffered a defeat for the first time. At the same time, the BJP, that is leading a coalition government at the centre, has also suffered a humiliating rout in the state, including in the Jammu region where it had a sizeable presence. The rout suffered by these parties has its own lessons, to which we shall return later.

The most important part of these results is that the people of the state have clearly expressed their abhorrence for extremism and terrorism that has made their life miserable. Though the militants did resort to subversive acts in many places and, as a result, the people did not come out in many areas to exercise their franchise, the state witnessed about 44 per cent polling as a whole. This was no small figure in the circumstances and it is certain that the state could have witnessed higher polling if only the extremist threat had not been there.

The mood of the people, who wanted to assert themselves, was also clear from the way the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) behaved. When the last assembly elections were held in 1996, leaders of this disparate conglomerate, that comprises more than two dozen pro-extremist outfits, had given a call for boycott, and that call did have some impact at that time. But, sensing the mood of the people this time, APHC leaders did not dare to issue any such call; they only said they themselves would not take part in the elections. One of the Hurriyat constituents, the People’s Conference that is led by Sajjad Lone after his father Abdul Ghani Lone’s assassination, went against the Hurriyat decision to remain aloof from the polls, though there was some patch-up later. Sajjad did put up some proxy candidates, one of whom won.    

Incidentally, it is said that the senior Lone was assassinated only because he was in favour of taking part in the elections. The strength of the crowd that turned out at the time of his funeral, must also have made other APHC leaders rethink about what they should do.

Another significant aspect of these elections was that by coming out in large numbers to vote, the J&K people have rebuffed the imperialist design to intensify their intervention in the region. It is well known that the US administration was hoping to have a chance to intervene on the plea that the polls were not free and fair. But the way the Election Commission conducted these polls in face of tremendous odds, the way the people did come out to register their preference, and the message that has gone to the international community that the democratic process can still deliver goods in the state, did have an impact on the imperialist plans. This is not to say that imperialist powers would not seek other excuses so as to intervene. But their designs have indeed suffered a setback for the present.

A GLANCE AT HISTORY

The setback the National Conference received in these elections must be on eye-opener for the parties not only in J&K but all over India. A mere glance at the history of the NC would be enough to grasp this point.

As we know, when the British India was struggling for independence and the people of princely states in various parts of the country were fighting for democratic changes and a responsive administration, it was the National Conference that was leading the people of Kashmir in their struggle against the autocratic rule of the Maharaja. Nay, as soon as the erstwhile Muslim Conference changed its name to National Conference, the people’s struggle in the state received a new momentum. For, it was not a simple change of name; with it changed the whole orientation of the organisation that now showed it was the true harbinger of the eminently secular culture of the Kashmiri people. The 1930s and the first half of 1940s saw a big upsurge in the state under the leadership of the late Sheikh Abdullah. The peasantry played a leading role in this struggle that reflected their heart-felt aspirations.

Led by the NC, this struggle of the Kashmir people reached a new crescendo when the British left India. Then, under the Cabinet Mission plan, all the princely states were given an option to join either India or Pakistan, or even to remain independent if they so desired. At that time, like the rulers of Hyderabad and Junagarh, the Maharaja of Kashmir was also thinking of remaining independent and the British imperialists were egging him on to stick to this desire. However, this was contrary to what the people of Kashmir wanted. The people there were in favour of joining the secular Indian Union instead of a theocratic Pakistan, as they thought it would best meet their democratic aspirations, protect their distinct identity and safeguard their secular culture called Kashmiriyat.

This was an excruciating time for the Kashmiri people. For, as soon as Pakistan came into existence, it sent armed raiders to the valley to capture Kashmir by force. It claimed Kashmir on the basis of religious affinity, saying the Muslims formed a majority in the state. This was also a time when the people of the North West Frontier Province had, in a referendum, opted to join Pakistan on the basis of geography and some other considerations even though they did not subscribe to the two-nation theory.  But the people of Kashmir totally rejected this theory that formed the very basis of Pakistan. With guns in their hands, they fought the raiders even before the Indian army reached the valley, and forced the Maharaja to accede to the Indian Union.

This was a time when the Indian Union’s Constituent Assembly had not yet completed its job of preparing a constitution and was holding its sessions regularly for the purpose. This constitution-making body took due note of the heroic role played by the people of Kashmir and gave them an assurance that their distinct identity, culture and autonomy would be duly safeguarded in independent India. It was this very assurance that found manifestation in the incorporation of article 370 into India’s constitution. Thus the state’s autonomy was no charity from the bourgeois-landlord classes of India but a recognition of the role played by the state’s people.

The rest is history. How the state’s radical land reforms frightened the ruling classes, how a crisis gripped the state in 1953, how the successive central governments sought to ride roughshod over the people’s aspirations and curtailed the state’s autonomy step by step till article 370 became more of a formality and less of a living reality --- all these aspects have been dealt with in these columns on several occasions.

AN EYE-OPENING DEVELOPMENT

In this period, the NC constantly strove to save the state’s autonomy from further erosion and for restoration of the powers the centre had already taken away. That is why the party repeatedly won the state assembly polls.

However, the NC’s prestige and credibility began to suffer erosion as soon as it aligned with the BJP. For, the latter is a party that opposed article 370 ever since it was incorporated into out constitution. The BJP views the Kashmir problem from a communal angle and also gave US imperialists a chance to intervene in it by linking it with the possession of nuclear weapons. Moreover, when the J&K assembly passed an autonomy resolution, the BJP-dominated union government immediately rejected it without any further ado. It was with such a party that the NC aligned for narrow gains and gave the impression that, having given up its glorious democratic traditions, it had turned into an opportunistic party.

The NC rule in the state since the 1996 polls also contributed to the loss of its credibility. Its regime did nothing worthwhile to restore the militancy-affected economy of the state, to rush relief to the suffering masses, to forge developmental works and create job opportunities. NC ministers steeped neck-deep into corruption and began to even auction whatever jobs were available. Even though the state is quite rich in natural resources, its backwardness not only continued but deteriorated day by day, making the life of the people increasingly miserable.

Thus the situation came to such a pass that the state’s people began to think the NC had as if taken them for granted and that, therefore, it had to be taught a lesson. The results show the people have indeed punished the NC for its non-performance, corruption and opportunist alliance with the BJP. The development should be an eye-opener for other parties who think the masses are ignorant and won’t dare speak, no matter what these parties do. That not a single member of the Abdullah family has won, shows to what extent the people can go if they decide to settle accounts with their rulers.

BJP CUTS A SORRY FIGURE

No less dramatic has been the humiliation and ignominy the BJP suffered in these elections. The results have added one more ugly feather to this party’s cap of ignominy, adding one more defeat to the string of defeats the BJP and its allies have suffered in the last four-odd years.

Here one must note that the BJP’s precursor in the Jammu region, the Praja Parishad, was active in the state even before independence and that, ever since the first general election in 1952, the Jan Sangh had had sizeable following in the Jammu region. But the party cut a sorry figure in the latest elections and now has the lowest ever tally in the assembly. The BJP had won 8 assembly seats in 1996 but has lost all of them though it won a lone seat in another area.

But more than these seat figures, the voting figures (which the media have mostly ignored) underline what an erosion of support the BJP has suffered. Though the party put up a total of 58 candidates in the state, it could manage to garner only about 2.5 per cent of the votes polled. This comes, on an average, to a bare 0.043 per cent per seat, that should be a matter of shame to even a small party, what to talk of a national one.

That the NC and the BJP are blaming each other for their debacles, only shows how they are still not prepared to learn a lesson from these results.

That the matter is not so simple is evident from the way the RSS and the BJP behaved before the elections.

It will be recalled that, while meeting at Kurukshetra, the RSS leadership officially demanded trifurcation of Jammu & Kashmir in order to polarise the state’s population on communal lines. However, months before that, they had floated a Jammu Statehood Morcha (JSM) to press their demand. On the other hand, though the compulsions of statecraft made the union government reject the RSS demand, the latter did force the BJP to enter an alliance with the same JSM. This meant that while the BJP was against trifurcation, its remote control, the RSS, was for it. Or, does the BJP’s alliance with the JSM mean that it was against trifurcation and also for the same? Whom were they trying to befool? But now the BJP’s rout in even its strongholds in Jammu region shows that the people of the region have rejected the demand for a separate state and with it the communal plank of the RSS-BJP --- lock, stock and barrel.

REBUFF TO PAKISTAN

Another significant point about these elections is that the people of Jammu & Kashmir have given a rebuff to Pakistani designs. As we said earlier, the people of the state had rejected the two-nation theory by joining the Indian Union. However, the rulers of Pakistan --- whether militancy dictators or elected civilian rulers --- never gave up their intention of getting the state merged with Pakistan and even tried to use force for the purpose. The only change in their attitude came in the form of Shimla agreement, signed in August 1972, that stipulated that India and Pakistan would seek to solve all their disputes including Kashmir through peaceful bilateral negotiations, without involving any third party whatsoever. But, as we know, after Bhutto’s assassination, General Ziaul-Haque totally ignored the agreement.  Moreover, he adopted a new tactic, that of a proxy war, to create headache for India and to occupy Kashmir, if he could. It was thus that the scourge of militancy plagued the state. The people’s growing sense of alienation from New Delhi and the flight of minority Hindus from the valley only emboldened Pakistan to pursue this line all the more vigorously.

However, the way the people came out to vote goes to show that they are fed up with militancy and want a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue. The pressure of mass opinion was such that even Hurriyat leaders thought it prudent to lie low for the election period. This reflects a big change in the ground situation and may serve as the basis for resolving the issue.

At the same time, by coming out to vote in large numbers, the J&K people have also taken care of the possible international ramifications of Kashmir issue and refused to give the imperialist powers any chance to intervene. Even diehard imperialists have felt constrained to accept that the J&K polls have been free and fair on the whole.

PITFALLS IN THE WAY

However, this also means that a grave responsibility awaits whatever government takes charge in Srinagar. Even though the NC is seeking to form a government after having conceded defeat and declaring that it is not in the race for power, chances are that it is not going to succeed in its new opportunistic game of making fun of the people’s mandate. The indications so far are that, after the initial round of bargaining is over, it is a Congress-PDP coalition that will form a government with the support of some smaller parties and independents. These two bigger parties have to take care that they do present an alternative for which the people have voted for them. For, not doing so would amount to a betrayal of the people’s mandate.

As for the CPI(M) that has two seats in the new assembly, it has already declared to extend issue-based support to such a government, from outside.

But there are certain pitfalls in the way, to be guarded against. First, the Congress has to see that the past follies are not repeated. It has to change its attitude to the Kashmir problem and seek to ensure that the autonomy due to the state is restored to the maximum possible extent and at the earliest. This is all the more necessary for the Congress to demarcate itself from the BJP that has all along been opposing the J&K people’s demand for restoration of their autonomy and protection to their distinct identity and culture.

On the other hand, though the People’s Democratic Party favours unconditional talks with the militants, and any such talk is welcome if it gives out hope that the problem would be satisfactorily resolved, it is a must that any such talk takes place within the framework of Indian unity.

And, needless to say, the new government will have to give utmost priority to putting the people’s life in the state on an even keel. The one and a half decades of militancy have reduced the whole economy of the state to a shambles, destroyed the infrastructure, and brought untold miseries to the people. Vigorous pursuit of developmental activities, creation of new jobs on a massive scale and large scale relief to the people are therefore necessary to meet the people’s aspirations and restore their faith in Indian democracy. One has to remember that the elections, in themselves, do not mean much --- as the BJP is seeking to make us believe. They have only created a new opportunity for resolution of the Kashmir issue or of the problems the people are facing, and the new government cannot afford to waste this opportunity. Guarding against any evasive attitude is essential so that the new set of rulers are not thrown out ignominiously next time, just as the NC has been thrown out.