When the BJP government threw down the gauntlet in Kashmir, it was expected to go unchallenged. But the Political Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an amalgam of different parties seeking restoration of Article 370 had different ideas.
New Delhi tosses a googly to Kashmir: district polls. The pro-370 Gupkar alliance goes on the front foot. Hardline members, weaned in Geelani’s boycott tradition, are angry.
When the BJP government threw down the gauntlet in Kashmir, it was expected to go unchallenged. But the Political Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an amalgam of different parties seeking restoration of Article 370 had different ideas.
On November 7, the alliance—which includes the Peoples Democratic Party, National Conference, People’s Conference and CPI(M) along with the Congress—announced its decision to contest the district development council polls scheduled for December. The council polls are being held for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir, which was stripped of its special status in August last year and the state bifurcated into two Union territories.
The poll announcement has left hardliners within the alliance—which is led by NC leader and former CM Farooq Abdullah—angry. Party spokesperson Ruhullah Mehdi argues that the alliance fell into the trap laid by the government. “To win a war, battles are sometimes deliberately lost,” he says, pointing out that boycotting the polls would have sent the message to the Centre that the alliance is driven by its larger objective of restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A. Many analysts believe that participating in the elections would “normalise” the situation.
The practice of poll boycott had been widely popularised by senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who argues that participation justified a system that is “oppressive and doesn’t want resolution of Kashmir according to the UN resolutions”. Over the years, the people too heeded the poll boycott calls of separatists.
Alliance spokesperson Sajad Gani Lone says the Gupkar partners decided to fight the local elections unitedly as it felt “it is important that this sacred space in democracy is not allowed to be invaded and marauded by divisive forces”.
PDP leader Naeem Akhtar says a landslide win for the combination will be an appropriate response to the BJP, about the disapproval by the stakeholders, the people of J&K. “We have to rise above partisan feelings unlike the BJP,” Akhtar says. Many in the alliance argue that poll boycott was not an option and it would have been a disaster for political parties. “We are not a separatist political entity. We believe in the electoral process and why should we remain away from it?” questions a senior leader of the alliance.
By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar