Return of the prodigal, Jamaat to field independent candidates in J&K polls

Srinagar, Aug 26 (IANS) Unable to enter the democratic process because of the ban imposed on it, the religio-political organisation, Jamaat-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has decided to field ex-Jamaat members as independent candidates in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Jamaat is going to announce its independent candidates for the first phase of Assembly elections on Monday, sources in the organisation told IANS.

Jamaat-e-Islami was declared a banned organisation in February 2019 and thus it could not fight elections in J&K.

Fighting elections is nothing new to this highly cadre-based organisation that has pockets of influence all over the Kashmir Valley.

Hardline separatist leader, the late Syed Ali Shah Geelani, represented the north Kashmir Sopore Assembly constituency in the J&K Assembly thrice.

Jamaat was a very powerful component of the Muslim United Front (MUF) that fought the Assembly elections in 1987 against the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference government in the state.

It is widely believed that mass rigging coupled with false declaration of results was resorted to by the then government with the support of the Congress government at the Centre to prevent the MUF from entering the state Assembly.

It is also widely believed that the MUF would not have won more than a dozen seats in the 1987 Assembly elections, had the democratic process been allowed to remain fair.

An over-enthusiastic rigging aimed at capturing absolute power without any opposition of substance finally resulted in the anger and disgruntlement of the youth from the democratic process.

The rigging of the 1987 elections triggered insurgent violence by the same youth who had campaigned for the MUF candidates during the elections.

That rigging gave Pakistan an opportunity it had been waiting for since 1947, to start indigenous armed violence in Kashmir with local youth becoming cannon fodder for the larger Pakistani objective of trying to destabilise India.

The large number of Jamaat members, its supporters and sympathisers became eyes and ears for the nefarious designs of India’s enemy and they helped Pakistan start a low-cost, affordable war against India.

After nearly four decades, the Jamaat rank and file seem to have understood the futility of trying to militarily fight a country that a democratic system in place with ample space for dissent and disagreement, without taking recourse to the gun.

It is this healthy realisation that has finally dawned on the Jamaat-e-Islami and made its change of heart possible.

Jamaat sources told IANS that they were expecting the Indian government to lift the ban imposed on their organisation so that they could return to the democratic fold by participating in the elections.

After they realised that the ban imposed on them would not be lifted sometime soon, they decided to register an organisation called the Justice & Development Front (JDF) under whose banner they would fight the elections.

“Since that also did not become possible as elections were announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) shortly after the Lok Sabha polls, we have decided to field ex-members of the Jamaat as independent candidates in the Assembly elections to make our intention to become part of the democratic process, public.”

“The assurances by the ECI that the elections would be absolutely free, fair and fearless has encouraged us that what happened in 1987 is not going to happen again,” said a senior member of the Jamaat.

It is in this background that two former Chief Ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have welcomed the Jamaat decision to join the election process.

At the same time, the Jamaat entering the Assembly elections in the Valley would make the contest interesting and the result uncertain of many Assembly seats, especially in the south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama.

To begin with, the Jamaat is going to announce its independent candidates for Pulwama, Zainpora, Rajpora, Tral, Bijbehara, Anantnag, Devsar and Kulgam Assembly constituencies on Monday.

The participation of ex-members of the Jamaat would make the upcoming Assembly elections more people participative and politically interesting.

Irrespective of who wins or loses the upcoming Assembly polls in J&K, the Jamaat fielding independent candidates in this election would be a victory of India’s great democracy that has space for dissent and disagreement within the democratic system.

Another significant aspect of the Jamaat joining the electoral process is the blunt rebuff to the enemies of the country which proves that the power of the ballot has finally defeated the power of the bullet in Kashmir.

–IANS

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