Born into a farming family in Tarigam village in Kulgam, Jammu & Kashmir, the UT’s only Communist party leader, Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami is no stranger to controversy. While he was born with the surname of Rather, this changed in the government papers after his first arrest under the Public Safety Act in the 1970s, he has told the media.
Since 1996, the 75-year-old is a Central Committee member of the CPI(M) and a former Kashmir state secretary of the party. His constituency, Kulgam, is considered a bastion for the CPI(M) in J&K, as MY Tarigami has won from there four times—1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014.
When in 1979, former Pakistan PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s execution led to riots in Kashmir, Tarigami was among the first arrested under the Public Safety Act. This was not the last time in his political career that he found himself jailed. He has been, several times, a resident of the infamous Red-16 prison.
In 2005, militants attacked the home of Tarigami and then-Minister of Education Ghulam Lone. While Lone did not survive the encounter, Tarigami’s guards fought off the assailants, one of them losing his life in the process. The MLA now has Z-category protection.
In October 2020, Tarigami was selected to be the convenor and spokesperson of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration. The group opposed the Centre’s move for abrogation of Article 370. When the Centre dropped Article 370, it also placed Tarigami under preventative detention for 35 days, along with other Kashmiri leaders who had opposed the move. It was CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury who filed a habeas corpus writ before the Supreme Court to locate his party member. On the SC’s orders, Yechury travelled to Kashmir and visit Tarigami.
While Kulgam, historically, has a high voter turnout rate, Tarigami has managed to win the constituency by a margin of over 69 per cent, 30 per cent, .47 and .63 per cent in 1996, 2002, 2008 and 2014 respectively. Analysts have noted that while he has been successful, his winning margin has reduced substantially.
The fight for seats in Kulgam has historically been between the National Congress and CPI(M). In the upcoming elections, however, Tarigami faces a new opponent: Sayar Ahmad Reshi, a Jamaat-backed independent candidate. Reshi’s growing popularity with Kashmir’s youth could give Tarigami a run for his money for the first time since 2002, many have said.
Referring to Reshi in an obtuse manner, Tarigami recently told the media: “There is a new eagle in the market, which has already taken away chicks. People must protect their chicks as this eagle has a habit of snatching them away. The people of Kulgam should not forget that this eagle has allied with the big eagle, and they need to realise this sooner rather than later.”
