Ishfaq-ul-Hassan | India Tomorrow
SRINAGAR—When the six-party Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) announced to contest District Development Council (DDC) polls, little did BJP realize that it was the beginning of the end of their monopoly on Jammu and Kashmir’s political landscape post abrogation of Article 370.
For BJP, Jammu and Kashmir was a frontier that they conquered on August 5, 2019, when they stripped J&K of special status and downgraded it into two union territories. Subsequent orders and amendments including domicile and land laws were passed to ensure that BJP will dominate Kashmir’s history, geography and politics.
Come November 7, PAGD announced to contest all DDC seats in Jammu and Kashmir. This sent BJP into a tizzy as the party was expecting that like 2018, all major parties will boycott the polls and they will have a cakewalk.
“I can understand the frustration behind this attack by the Hon’ble Home Minister Amit Shah. He had been briefed that the People’s Alliance was preparing to boycott elections. This would have allowed the BJP & newly formed King’s party a free run in J&K. We didn’t oblige them,” said Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
In 2018, National Conference, PDP, CPIM, and others had boycotted the Municipal and Panchayat polls over the issue of Article 35 A. However, Congress and Peoples Conference led by separatist-turned-MLA Sajjad Lone had joined the poll fray.
Shunning their ideological difference, six major political parties – National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference, Awami National Conference, CPIM, and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement—formed PAGD on October 15 to fight for the restoration of the special status and statehood.
However, the Congress, that was one of the ‘Gupkar declaration’ signatories, had skipped the October 15 meeting. Prior to stripping of J&K’s special status on August 5 last year, the leaders had met at the Gupkar residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah here and drafted the declaration.
PAGD is contesting the majority of 280 DDC seats in Jammu and Kashmir. However, all the constituents will contest on their respective party symbols.
State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said DDCs will be held in 8 phases from November 28 to December 19. The counting of votes will be held on December 22. Simultaneously by-elections to the vacant seats of Sarpanches and Panches will also be held.
Feeling the heat, BJP decided to go all out to defame PAGD and launch personal attacks on the leaders besides trying to cripple the opposition by not providing security to their leaders.
Leading the campaign was union home minister Amit Shah, who termed PAGD as `Gupkar Gang’.
“The Gupkar Gang is going global! They want foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir. The Gupkar Gang also insults India’s Tricolour. Do Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji support such moves of the Gupkar Gang? They should make their stand crystal clear to the people of India”, Shah tweeted.
However, Shah’s remarks did not deter PAGD from going ahead with their campaigns. “It shows how frustrated they are. They were expecting us to boycott polls so that they could have a cakewalk. We did not oblige and now they are feeling the heat. We will sweep the polls. Post-poll, BJP will not have anything to salvage,” said Firdous Tak, PDP spokesman.
What, however, has created a problem for PAGD candidates is that they are allegedly not being allowed to campaign freely on the pretext of safety and security.
“Governments come and go. No government has the right to alter the institutional foundations of democracy in J&K nourished by the sacrifices of thousands of political workers. Providing security to a select few & literally interning the rest is a gross interference in democracy,” said a PAGD spokesman.
Even PAGD president Dr. Farooq Abdullah has written to the state election commission for not allowing them to reach out to the people freely.
“A strange and a unique feature have come to the fore. Candidates put up by the PAGD are immediately being whisked away to `secure locations’ in the name of security. They are not allowed to canvas, they are completely out of touch with those from whom they are supposed to seek votes,” Farooq said in his letter.
“Our parties have been in power in the past and have had the opportunity to head and run the government. We are aware of the challenges posed in the realm of security in a place beset by violence. These challenges are not new but have been painfully persisting for the last three decades. But the government had structures in place which ensured security for all contestants irrespective of the ideology they espoused or the parties they represented,” he added.
On the other side, BJP has lined up star campaigners from Delhi to canvas in Jammu and Kashmir. From Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to Anurag Thakur, BJP’s star campaigners will be camping in Jammu and Kashmir for the next few days to woo the voters.
“The alliance of the Congress with the Gupkar Gang proves beyond doubt that it is seeking support from those who are seeking the support of China and Pakistan to bring back Article 370. The presence of the Congress in the PAGD raises serious questions. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should tell the people whether the ideology and thinking of the Congress party match that of the Gupkar,” Thakur said.
Even Shahnawaz Hussain had a tough time when a reporter asked him a personal question about ‘Love Jihad’. A mediaperson asked him whether his marriage with a non-Muslim could be termed as “Love Jihad”.
The video of the question has gone viral on social media and the reporter who asked the question is winning praises for his courage.
