With Lok Sabha polls in sight, Jammu and Kashmir's political parties begin election campaigns in full earnest

Electoral politics is gradually returning to the Kashmir Valley, despite its political landscape being still fraught with danger and the intermittent killings of party workers. On Sunday, the Valley witnessed a number of political rallies by the local unionist parties, including an addition to its electoral space with the launch of a new mainstream party by the bureaucrat-turned-politician, Shah Faesal. The former IAS topper launched his party, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement, at an impressive function attended by hundreds of his workers and supporters, mostly the youth, in Srinagar city. His party mostly draws inspiration from “his political idol” Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP, that relies on youth voluntarism. His targets are the disenfranchised youths, who say they are tired of the promises made by previous regimes and want a change in the mainstream electoral politics of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. “Everyone is saying we have seen a lot of politics over the bloodshed of youths. But now we won’t allow politics of that sort to take place,” Faesal said, “People ask me what would be your stand on the Kashmir issue? We believe the issue of Kashmir should be resolved through peaceful resolution and that should happen with dignity and respect.” As a mainstream political party, he said his party wants to act as a bridge between two nations — India and Pakistan — across the Kashmir issue. “We can emerge as a voice and bridge that distance between these two nations on the Kashmir issue,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_6280511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Omar Abdullah at the National Conference’s public meeting. Firstpost/Hilal Shah[/caption] The former bureaucrat was flanked by ex-JNU student leader, Shehla Rashid, who joined Faesal’s party on the occasion. However, on the day when Faesal was addressing a political gathering in Srinagar, the former chief minister and vice-president of Kashmir’s Grand Old Party, National Conference, Omar Abdullah had turned up in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district to address his party members. After 2016, when south Kashmir became the epicentre of street protests and witnessed a wave of militant recruitments and subsequent series of encounters, it was the National Conference’s first major show in the region. While addressing a party function in Dak Banglow Anantnag, the National Conference working president said that his party is open to a pre-poll alliance, if the Congress agrees to its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. “It is pointless to expect any progress on resolution of Kashmir issue till elections were held both at the Centre and state levels,” Omar said, adding that by not holding simultaneous polls in Jammu and Kashmir, people were being denied a chance to elect their representatives. While Omar was exploring means to woo voters in his political rival Mehbooba Mufti’s traditional bastion, the Peoples Democratic Party president had ventured into Sajad Lone’s northern stronghold of Kupwara. In north Kashmir’s frontier town, Mehbooba was once again campaigning against the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and the possible mass detention of teachers, among other issues. “The issue of Jammu and Kashmir is a battle of ideas and it won’t be resolved by jailing separatists,” Mehbooba said at a rally in Kupwara district. “I have heard now that the Centre is also thinking of jailing teachers. They already jailed Jamaat members, so what did they achieve?” Arresting Jamaat activists does not mean that the ideology of Jamaat-e-Islami will end, she reiterated. “People can be caged, but not the ideas,” the PDP president said. On the other hand, Mehbooba’s former party minister and now the second-most important face in Lone’s Peoples Conference (PC), Imran Reza Ansari was addressing a meeting of workers in Srinagar, keeping the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in view. With the support of people, Ansari said, Peoples Conference is fast emerging as a strong alternative in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. “The party belongs to everyone, whosoever aspires for changing the political system of corruption and nepotism,” he said, “Suffering and misery of our people will end only through truth and reconciliation. This is what we are aspiring for. We want our people to be politically conscious, economically stable and socially empowered,” Ansari added. If Sunday’s series of political rallies are any pointer, then Kashmir is likely to witness an intense election campaigning in the coming days. But in case the political and electoral activities remain peaceful, it will raise fingers at the Centre’s decision not to hold simultaneous elections for the state — the move now becoming Omar’s new war cry against New Delhi in Kashmir.