EVERYONE WANTS POWER IN KASHMIR- INTERVIEW WITH ADFAR SHAH
Adfar Shah shuttles
between New Delhi and Kashmir writing on South Asian societies and Politics for
several publications besides Eurasia Review like Analyst World, South Asian
Idea, Countercurrents, Amazons.com, Kashmir Monitor, Kashmir Images and other
web portals and newspapers. Adfar is a Sociologist and researcher (at SNCWS,
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi) who continues to seek to understand the Gender
question, South Asian politics, Kashmir in conflict, Military sociology and
Indian Military Apparatus, Af-Pak strain and Muslim identity issues.
Eurasia
Review: Being a sociologist how do you read the record turnout in Kashmir
Valley?
Adfar Shah: With a record turnout of 65
percent, I would say in the whole state there is a change of heart and as I
always maintain it is out of people’s affiliation and close contact with the
contesting candidates. Not just candidates, but more often people themselves
motivate other people (neighbors’ or friends or relatives) to vote for a
particular candidate mainly because of two reasons, either to teach their rival
candidate a lesson or to make their favorite candidate win anyway. The
followers of all candidates follow the same policy, resulting in the massive
turn out.
Adfar Shah.
My father who is not a supporter of Omar Abdullah’s NC at all still
voted for NC purely because of the candidate not the party. In the recently
concluded elections especially in rural belts, the sections of the society who
hardly voted for decades came out in bulk to vote this time purely to register
the victory of their candidates or beat the opposite ones who do not suit them
ideologically.
It should be said here that even such a record turnout is in no way a
referendum on the Kashmir issue because elections mean the routine
administration, we can call it Bijli, Pani Sadak affair in Kashmir. The K-issue
must be delinked from the routine election process in Kashmir. Also elections
must not be taken as a measure of normalcy, peace, calm, certainty or security
or end to violent youth bulge, etc,.
Eurasia
Review: Has such an impressive turnout given any blow to separatism?
Adfar
Shah: Separatism is a different subject and must not be linked to the
contesting of routine elections or even linked to people’s voting behavior as
it remains a fact that Kashmir issue is a political issue
that needs a political solution. Most of the youth who campaigned for the
candidates during elections subscribe to the separatist ideology but believe
that elections have nothing to do with the solution of Kashmir problem. Yes,
the larger turn out can definitely be linked to people’s unsubscribing to the
politics or ideology of violence and vested interests, but the elections hardly
give any blow to separatism in the valley.
Eurasia
Review: In some of your earlier write ups on Kashmir elections, you had
maintained that it is not Modi, but a “Mufti wave this time”, while BJP
still has good prospects in the state? What do you say now?
Adfar
Shah: I had rightly used the term Mufti wave because it was truly
reflecting from the grass roots and this is proven as PDP got 28 seats and
become the largest party. In Jammu it was undoubtedly the Modi wave that BJP
benefitted from and gained 25 significant number of seats. However, the Modi
wave even existed in Ladakh during parliamentary elections, but results proved
quite opposite this time for BJP’s poor foot work. BJP’s opening no account in
the Valley is also not a surprise to me, not because of the heavy Mufti wave,
but out of their selection of the candidates. BJP in the Valley needs some
stalwarts, not just beginners or those who don’t have a mandate from
anywhere.
Eurasia
Review: How do you see PDP emerging in the Valley?
Adfar
Shah: PDP emerged as an alternative to hegemonic National Conference.
The party is not emerging just in the valley but I would say throughout the
state due to its inclusive ideology and sincere and energetic young work force
besides a flock of intellectuals like Dr Drabu, Nayeema Mehjoor, Nayeem Akhtar
and many others.
Earlier it was south Kashmir that was treated as the PDP bastion, but
this time the party won five of the total 8 assembly seats in Srinagar
reflecting their making inroads everywhere. Even the PDP candidates who lost
this time have given a tough fight to their rivals owing to the Mufti wave. PDP
is certainly changing the discourse of the state’s politics wherein people
believe that the party led by the learned politician Mufti Mohammad Syed is
never going to allow any compromise on state’s unique identity. The party has
earlier also raised the never addressed concerns of safety of the common masses
who were oppressed by guns from all sides during the ongoing brutal conflict
situation. Plus the party’s manifesto speaks of reforming the state’s
impoverished socio-economic situation and uncertain security scenario which is
why it is gaining much public support. The quest that remains is to see how it
practices what it has stated in its manifesto.
Eurasia
Review: What would you link NC’s (National Conference) drubbing to?
Adfar
Shah: Jammu and Kashmir’s oldest party once led by the charismatic
Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah is fast losing that very Sheikh
charisma – this is the actual cause of its declining rapport among masses. I
want to make it clear here that mostly political analysts keep wrongly
portraying NC’s success at mere 15 seats as the flood fallout, but there is not
a single example of such a thing. Mr. Omar lost even his home constituency
‘Sonwar’ clearly reflecting his poor foot work and his being a stranger to his
own neighbourhood and it was not the floods where he did what he could as a
human being. He left the family bastion ‘Ganderbal’ as he timely guessed his
declining graph in the high profile constituency that was brutally neglected
both by his father and Omar himself.
The further anti-incumbency factor and NC leadership’s lack of reach out
to masses played a significant role. People believe that Omar regime was
totally not accessible and its perpetual failure on boosting security to masses
besides employment avenues, etc, proved the last nail in the coffin. Omar
regime could not tackle corruption, nepotism and favouritism resulting in its
drubbing and clear from the defeat of its senior stalwarts like the former
Finance Minister, general secretary or other heavy weights. Also Omar is being
criticized by the youth for his hasty decisions like extending the employees
retirement age to 60 and pensioners are also furious over this decision. The
credit also goes to PDP’s emerging leadership as well who gained enough ground
and reached the hearts while NC was enjoying power.
Eurasia
Review: NC retained both the seats of Ganderbal despite speculations and exit
poll analysis, what is your take on it?
Adfar
Shah: NC retained Ganderbal once again but this time it was a cut throat
competition at both the seats of Ganderbal and Kangan. Ganderbal especially
proved not a cake walk for NC’s Ishfaq Jabbar and the people neither link
Jabbar’s victory to NC’s credibility in Ganderbal nor holistically to Ishfaq
Jabbar himself, but to late Sheikh Jabbar, Ishfaq’s father who was undoubtedly
a visionary leader, having worked tirelessly for Ganderbal in the past. Further
NC’s Kangan seat victory is not a surprise at all as the Mian family has a lot
of following and Mian Altaf’s good work in the constituency makes him taste
victory again and again despite a tough competition. Had NC given mandate to
anyone other than Altaf, PDP would have won it comfortably.
Eurasia
Review: Who are the parties you think may form the government and what are the
main challenges before the new government.
Adfar
Shah: This still remains a big mystery. Earlier it seemed possible that
even arch rivals like PDP and NC may join hands or PDP or congress (the usual
stabilizer) may agree simply to keep BJP away from the government formation,
but it can also not be ruled out completely that PDP may accept BJP’s support
as well for Mr. Amit Shah, the BJP national president has kept all options open
and the PDP president has also argued that government formation may take time,
which means serious talks are on. BJP for sure is not totally untouchable to
all the regional parties in the state.
Whosoever forms the government, the
main issues before the new establishment are really tough. Kashmir is at a
critical juncture where flood money is yet to come and suffering has increased
multifold unaddressed, the reality of empty state coffers poses a pain to
masses, lot of administrative mess leading to unaccounted corruption, uncertain
security scenario leading to killings on routine basis, issues of massive
post-flood rehabilitation, the monster of unemployment and mounting youth
bulge, etc,. Such a dismal scenario calls for a serious policy and planning
with due support of the centre and demands a speedy government formation. To
put a crux of the main challenges that I would enumerate are: Development, good
governance and rebuilding the flood hit Kashmir. These three issues must be the
priority targets before the new government.
Eurasia
Review: What is the message of the elections results in Jammu and Kashmir?
Adfar Shah: The message is simply loud and clear, people want to move towards
peace, prosperity and development. People want their candidates to fight
for people’s security, for a life with dignity and most importantly for working
towards creation of employment avenues which we lack so badly in this part of
the world. The clear cut message by the election results to all the parties is
that ‘if you fail to deliver, we will fail you for sure’.
Eurasia
Review: What remains a challenge, despite the record turn out?
Adfar
Shah: There is a big challenge that still prevails despite a record
turnout of 65 percent, i.e. lack of amity between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh
regions and it has serious fallouts as far as our pluralistic ethos is
concerned. This very created fissures are not allowing people to enjoy the
emerging peace dividend as politics of polarization still continues
successfully. Jammu’s voting behavior vs Kashmir clearly reflects the impact of
the polarization that got created during elections and ultimately divided people of the state on religious lines, which is not
a healthy sign.
Eurasia
Review: What is your message to all people of the state and the political
parties?
Adfar
Shah: Let us celebrate our diversity and not get polarized or radicalize
people on communal agenda for petty vote bank for the profit it yields may benefit
a few but the harm it does is permanent and alarming. Let us prefer national
interests over narrow interests and join hands in the PM’s national agenda and
work for his slogan ‘Sabka Saat Sabka Vikaas’ and bridge the void between
Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Also the most important measure of egalitarianism is
to ensure more and more women candidates in the politics of Kashmir as we have
just two women lawmakers now in the whole 87 member assembly and as a few women
were in the fray reflecting our gender bias and need for women to come out and
participate in the electoral process. Kashmir needs inclusive development and
we need to take flood devastation head on and work for the rehabilitation of
victims and progress of all. Kashmir indeed was yearning for a change of guard
as it needs a new vision be that in economy, social security or administration.
Let us hope the new regime delivers fast.
(Adfar
Shah is a widely published Delhi based (Kashmiri) Sociologist and Columnist at
some of the renowned media groups like Eurasia Review, South Asian Idea,
Analyst World, Foreign Policy.org, Kashmir Times, etc,. He can be reached at adfer.syed@gmail.com).
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