“In principle, we believe that engagement with the sentiment and deliberations are the way forward and Hurriyat will always want to be part of meaningful dialogue on Kashmir,” says Hurriyat chairperson and Kashmir’s chief cleric.
The first phase of Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir was peaceful and registered 61% polling on September 18. A section of separatists too took a plunge.
The Hurriyat chairperson and Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has distanced himself from electoral politics, spoke of the election and the Hurriyat’s position on it to #TheHindu.
Excerpts:
Q. J&K witnessed brisk polling, unlike in the past, when the Hurriyat issues boycott calls.
Elections are the key to the expression of civic choice in a democracy. Post 1947, the people of Jammu and Kashmir participated in this exercise, including some Hurriyat constituents, although their credibility in being fair has always been suspect. It contributed to the unrest and the violence that ensued in 1990. Post 1990, when things changed drastically and there was a groundswell for resolution, people were coerced to vote through intimidation by the huge presence of [security] forces. Election was projected as a means to conflict resolution, and people’s participation as validation that all is well here. So boycott was the democratic means to express anger, reject this projection, and draw attention towards the unsolved issue.
The Hurriyat is not the only forum to engage in ‘boycott politics’ as a means. The
National Conference (NC) in the 1970s boycotted Assembly elections, and the NC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) boycotted local polls as recently as 2018.
The Hurriyat’s stated position is that elections cannot replace the resolution process for the Kashmir issue. We look at them as two separate matters that have to be treated separately. [There were] the drastic unilateral changes of August 5,
2019 by New Delhi, including bifurcating the State into two and downgrading it to a union territory. Subsequently, the J&K Reorganisation Act was brought in and stringent measures implemented to disempower and dispossess people to a point where boycott has lost relevance. The people are wise enough to decide what needs to be done in such a situation.
Q. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described these elections as a historic moment in Kashmir.
Introduction of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, and fresh amendments have made these elections meaningless. It’s the Lieutenant Governor who was granted broad and sweeping executive powers to run Jammu and Kashmir from
New Delhi. Any elected legislature is almost powerless. Jammu and Kashmir has been put through a number of experiments to ensure electoral weight shifts to one region. It was evident from gerrymandering during the delimitation exercise and fragmentation of the electoral landscape based on religious lines. It’s unfortunate that the regional parties could not stop it or put up a joint fight.
Q. Where do you see Kashmir after the Centre ended its semi-autonomous status in 2019?
Kashmir, which is divided between India, Pakistan and China, remains a political and human issue. As long as there are claims and counter-claims by regional powers over it, the issue persists, and New Delhi has to engage with political sentiment and aspirations alive on the ground. Can India withdraw from all the previous bilateral agreements with Pakistan on Kashmir? And will China back out?
Q. Where does the Hurriyat stand in the current situation?
From former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Hurriyat always supported dialogue
between Delhi and Srinagar on the Kashmir issue. It was not an easy decision. Even in 2014 when Prime Minister Modi came to power we reached out through the media for continuation of engagement for resolution. Those of us who supported talks with Delhi many a time bore heavy costs for it. In principle, we believe that engagement with the sentiment and deliberations are the way forward and Hurriyat will always want to be part of meaningful dialogue on Kashmir. The
Hurriyat, more than any other party, seeks a peaceful and dignified approach towards Kashmir. We wish for a peaceful and prosperous region for all. The powers involved in the conflict need to look at Kashmir as a humanitarian issue, which
consumed many generations of Kashmiris who continue to yearn for a lasting solution. We want a closure to the conflict.
Q. Hasn’t the situation visibly improved in the last six years in Kashmir?
As we speak, thousands of youths remain in jails, leadership is behind bars,
locals are dismissed from government service, people’s properties are attached on government orders. Also, land, jobs and our resources have been opened to outsiders. There is a complete crackdown on local press and freedom of
expression. Putting the fundamental rights to liberty and freedom in abeyance in
Kashmir and terming it peace and normalcy is a wrong portrayal of the realities on
ground. Peace cannot be enforced but achieved with the consent of people. What
these measures reflect is a policy of intimidation and disempowerment, which is
an unsustainable approach. If our collective aim is peace and normalcy, then resolution of the conflict and political engagement is the way forward. There is a strong latent resistance on ground. People are self-censoring in the face of fear, and repercussions. People’s silence should not be misconstrued as peace.
Q. The Centre claims that Hurriyat no more exists in Kashmir and refuses to engage with you?
Hurriyat represents the sentiment and will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. A severe clampdown was launched in 2017 and all senior Hurriyat leaders were put behind bars and booked under the UAPA despite they being
political leaders. In another round of arrests prior to 2019, scores of Hurriyat activists and members were arrested and incarcerated. In August 2019, the crackdown intensified and lower rung members were also arrested and I was put under house detention. Till date all of them are in jails. Most of the Hurriyat constituents were banned under the UAPA and continue to be so. I was partially
released from continued house arrest in September 2023 by the court, and am detained anytime at the will of the state. Since the announcement of elections I have again been put under house arrest. Even when I am not under house detention, I have to seek permission for every engagement, and only if it is given, I can pursue. So naturally due to such harsh measures the Hurriyat will not be as strong as it was before 2019. But the sentiment on the ground remains exactly the
same as it was prior to 2019. People not sentiment can be caged. And as long as the
sentiment exists Hurriyat exists.
Courtesy : The Hindu
