Paranoid PDP legislators avoid constituencies in south Kashmir for fear of public lynching due to rising deaths

Panic has gripped People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers from South Kashmir after a spurt in militant and civilian killings. Fearing attacks by violent mobs, the lawmakers are avoiding going to their constituencies in south Kashmir which have been the traditional stronghold of the ruling PDP.

The PDP, which is ruling the state in an alliance with the BJP, had won 11 out of 16 seats from south Kashmir in the last Assembly election in 2014. Since then the party’s home turf has witnessed a tectonic shift, becoming a new address for the new-age tech-savvy militancy.

A PDP leader from the volatile district of Shopian, where at least 16 militants have been killed in last few weeks, said a majority of his constituents are presently on the side of militants because of New Delhi’s inability to initiate a meaningful dialogue. Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, PDP MLA from Shopian, told Firstpost in an interview, that the situation is worse than last year in his district.

“We urgently need a political initiative to save young children from getting killed. The situation is worse than last year. New Delhi must initiate some kind of conflict resolution process,” Bhat, 68, a former advocate and social activist, said.

Bhat’s residence was recently attacked with a petrol bomb at Memender area of Shopian constituency. “The situation is such that if people find me, or any other political leader, in a place like where these funerals and protests take place, we will be lynched,” Bhat said at his official residence in Jawharnagar area of Srinagar.

He was seconded by the MLA from Wachi constituency in Shopian district, Aijaz Ahmad Mir, who said one of the reasons for militants to gain the upper hand in the area is because they have influenced a majority of the youths in the age group of 14 to 28 years.

“When a militant is trapped everyone rushes to save him because he is a local. I can’t say that for a foreign militant. It is not possible to confront people like these when they are emotionally charged,” Mir told Firstpost in Srinagar.

Both the MLAs said they have been giving clear-cut instructions to security forces to avoid civilian casualties from time to time, and whenever an encounter starts, they end up calling the district police to try to avoid civilian casualty. Despite that, the MLAs said, when youngsters throng the encounter sites the forces respond and they end up killing people.

“Somehow we must prevail on the forces to avoid civilian killings. It is something no sane element would tolerate. But I am helpless too, and I have already conveyed my concerns to the government,” Bhat said.

Shopian MLA Bhat said it is not proper for youths to go in front of the gun and get killed because the army is not trained in dealing with a law and order situation. “Whenever human rights violations take place, it aggravates the situation. The law enforcing agencies should employ zero tolerance policy towards civilian killings,” he said.

The anger is not just against the PDP, Bhat said, but against the entire mainstream politics in south Kashmir, and after continuous killings, it is only smouldering.

“That is the reason our political movement is only restricted to circuit houses in the main town of Shopian,” he said. “No political party can afford to hold a public meeting in the area because of the threat from militants and for fear of exposing workers of the party.” The former lawyer had got 15,000 out of 30,000 votes in Shopian constituency.

“I am not performing the duty for which people had voted for me,” Bhat said. “This is only because of the human rights violations happening in my area, barring me from meeting my people.” In some places, he alleged, the army violates human rights of people.

“I have not been to the constituency in last four months. It is not a big deal to have a convention but we all have to understand that workers will become a target,” Mir said. “But that doesn’t mean the administration is not working. The only problem is that there is no accountability on the ground.”

Those who write on social networking sites don’t vote and those who update on militants also don’t vote, Mir said. “Those who do,” he said, “they come to us and talk about streets and fencing of graveyards.”

But having said that, it does not mean Kashmir is an employment issue.

The space for mainstream politics in the Valley has not just shrunk for the PDP, but the entire mainstream, believed Yasir Rishi, PDP’s member of the Upper House in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. He said PDP was founded a decade after gun came to Kashmir, and it always been part of the solution instead of being a problem.

“If you think Mehbooba Mufti is responsible for the killings of these children, then so is Hurriyat Conference, who preach violence,” Rishi said. “We have to make our children understand that you can’t throw stones at people who have bullets.”

But as the Valley’s situation is fast heading towards a crisis, Rishi and his political peers are desperately seeking a solution to the lingering problem. Their desperate bid for political engagement makes sense as it also determines their existence in a conflict zone.