National Conference and PDP on the same page on Article 35-A, boycott Jammu and Kashmir local body polls

Srinagar: For the first time in the past three decades of political turmoil in Kashmir, both mainstream political parties as well as the separatist groups are calling for a boycott of elections. After the National Conference announced that it will stay away from the upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections, the Peoples Democratic Party too seems disinterested in the polls that are slated to be held at the end of this year. PDP chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said that the manner in which the Central government and the state government (presently headed by the governor) presented its argument in the apex court on 31 August hearing “smells like a conspiracy to target the identity” of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. “There is a large section of people in Jammu and Kashmir today who think that after these elections, the Government of India may do away with the Article 35-A. If that is what the majority of population is thinking, what are we fighting for? The public sentiment can’t be ignored and taking eyes off the issue would be disastrous,” Mehbooba said. [caption id=“attachment_5086631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kashmiri traders protesting against the petitions in the Supreme court challenging the validity of Article 35-A. PTI[/caption] “The decision (of the National Conference) not to contest election tells us all to stop and ponder if we are really helping ourselves by participating in these elections. What credibility would these elections have when the state’s oldest political party will not participate?” she asked. While the separatists have been calling for the election boycott since 1990, the mainstream political parties this time have called for a boycott of the elections for the first time due to the deteriorating security situation that has resulted in a spate of killings of political workers and leaders. After the National Conference decided to boycott the polls, the decision of the PDP to boycott the upcoming polls will erode the credibility of the electoral process and further deepen the political uncertainty in the state that was brought under Governor’s Rule after the fall of the PDP-BJP coalition government earlier this year. National Conference president, Farooq Abdullah said that it is not easy for any party, whose very existence depends on participation in a democratic process, to call for a boycott, but “the situation and the government’s response to the pleas in apex court to the Article 35-A” of the Constitution, which is facing a legal challenge, has “forced the core group” of his party to come to the boycott decision. “I am for democracy and the electoral process. We have sacrificed the lives of thousands of our party workers to uphold these values,” Abdullah said, “But the Centre needs to clear its stand in court and in public when it comes to the protection of our identity. This (Article 35A) is our identity.” Interestingly, the additional solicitor-general, Tushar Mehta, while seeking deferment of the hearing of the case in the court on 31 August till the Urban Local Bodies and panchayat polls have been completed, had termed the law, which allows only state subjects to buy land in the state, as “gender discriminatory”. Under the law, while the women state subjects of Jammu and Kashmir who get married to non-state subjects are entitled to own property in the state, their offspring can’t have those rights. At least two petitioners have challenged the legislation on these grounds. Soon after taking charge, the state government headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik said that it would hold the four-phased municipal polls from 1 to 15 October and the eight-phased panchayat elections from 8 November to 4 December. But the announcement was met with much skepticism given the situation on the ground with the Hizbul Mujahideen threatening to kill those who participate in these polls. The separatist parties have been arguing that over the years, the Government of India has used the participation of people in the election processes as a referendum in its favour at international fora. In fact when only seven percent voting was registered in by-elections to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat last year, the separatists said their stand about the election boycott was vindicated. Abdullah, the former chief minister, won in the elections. However, it is he said this time that his party wouldn’t participate in the panchayat elections. “I have still not come to terms with the fact I was appointed with such a low margin. If the same happens with the upcoming polls, how can we claim that we represent democracy in Kashmir,” Abdullah said. While the suspicion that the law may be modified or entirely removed was confirmed after Mehta told the Supreme Court that there was “no doubt that the provision (Article 35A) is discriminatory against women”, it has pushed the mainstream political parties, who have stood for democracy and rule of law in the past three decades of turmoil, into a corner. “If the law is modified, what face will we show to people? We will be hounded out of the state and even living here will become difficult. In all these years of turmoil, we braved bullets and bombs to protect the idea of democracy. But when it comes to the question of identity, we will not allow it to be targeted,” a senior National Conference leader said.