We Can’t Demand Good Governance and Stay Away from Elections

Over the past few years, the health of democracy has declined significantly in many nations. The concept of electoral democracy, also called representative democracy, continues to thrive. In most of the democratic nations, especially India, people elect their representatives after every 5 years and they represent them in various forums like national assemblies, parliament, state or provincial assemblies or even at local level like Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions PRIs.  The enthusiasm for electoral democracy has slipped in many nations and people feel good people are not going to parliament or state assemblies.

I personally believe that the fault lies within the citizens themselves, especially in Jammu & Kashmir who don’t participate in the electoral process actively. On the other hand, we want better services from the Government like good roads, robust  healthcare, 24 x 7 electricity supply and better education and corruption free services etc. How is all this possible when we don’t elect better leaders?

Irony is that even in Municipal elections people don’t vote for good people nor educated and public spirited people come forward to participate in the electoral process ?  Let us analyse the Srinagar Municipal Corporation elections in the last 10 to 15 years. Did we ever elect good people who could represent our aspirations?

The Smart City Srinagar plan was thrusted on people which otherwise should have been put forward by the SMC corporators. The work was taken up haphazardly and these corporators didn’t even utter a word. The reason was that they were not elected by the vast majority of people. They didn’t represent the aspirations of the people. Some were elected with mere 50 to 60 votes and many didn’t even get 300 votes. 

I know some councillors and corporators who got elected by their own family votes ( 1 to 4 votes only).  Same is the case with the last Panchayat elections and a vast majority of Sarpanches were selected and not elected at all. Many of these Sarpanches and Panches looted public funds and became contractors rather than representing their own people.

Lok Sabha election 2014 and 2019

For many decades now, people of J&K have been boycotting elections especially in Srinagar city.  There were many well known political reasons for that. 

The election boycott helped many people rule J&K but I believe this Lok Sabha election is the right time to send our true representatives to Parliament.  It is shocking to know that the last two Lok Sabha elections (2014 and 2019)  saw less than 50% participation of people in J&K. When it comes to Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla Lok sabha segments, the participation of people was very less.  

In 2014 lok sabha elections, a mere 25 % people voted in Srinagar parliamentary seat, 39 % votes were polled in Baramulla and 28% voters cast their votes in Anantnag parliamentary constituency. On the contrary, 71% votes were polled in Ladakh,  Udhampur recorded 70.95% turnout and in Jammu lok sabha 68% voters cast their votes.  

In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the polling percentage further came down as mere 9% voters cast their votes in Anantnag lok sabha segment , Srinagar recorded mere 15% votes and Baramulla was a bit higher with around 38% polling. On the contrary,  Jammu  Lok Sabha Segment saw 80% plus voting, Udhampur 79.7% and the voting turnout in Ladakh was 79%.

Sustainable Development

At a time when every political party or leader talks of development, we haven’t heard any MP from J&K raise the issue of sustainable development in J&K in the Lok Sabha. We have seen disasters happening in J&K and other Himalayan states in the last 10 to 15 years but how many MPs have raised these issues in Lok Sabha? 

Under the garb of tourism and development, our forests, wetlands, mountains and valleys have been plundered but how many Lok Sabha MPs raised this issue? Our apple orchards were axed and land acquired by NHAI for the Srinagar Ring Road project but Lok Sabha MP Dr Farooq Abdullah never ever raised this issue in Parliament. 7000 kanals of land was acquired for peanuts in Srinagar, Budgam area and central land acquisition law applicable to J&K post article 370 was not applied at all. This law otherwise guarantees 3 to 4 times higher compensation but the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar didn’t even issue a statement nor did his party protest over it. 

The poor farmers had to seek judicial intervention and the case is now pending before the Supreme Court of India.  When forest dwellers like Gujjars, Bakerwals and Chopans were being evicted in 2020 by the Forest Department, no MP from J&K highlighted this issue in Lok Sabha . This author wrote a series of articles in many national and local newspapers on the issue plus made several video reports and held protests as well, but our MPs didn’t even bother to meet the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs. It was only after constant protests by activists and media highlighting this issue the Govt decided to roll out the Forest Rights Act in J&K.

More than 90%  of farmers in all the Himalayan states are marginal farmers as per official figures. The size of small agricultural landholdings in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, J&K and adjoining areas was estimated to be less than a hectare. This figure came further down in the 2015-16 Agriculture Census. In the Kashmir valley, where most farmers own less than half acre of land, any government policy related to land acquisition, especially for “development projects”, needs to take into account the fragile mountainous environment and climatic conditions as well.

Better land compensation in Hill states

The Govt is supposed to pay more compensation for land acquired in Himalayan states like J&K , Himachal, Uttarakhand and Ladakh and the Right to Fair Compensation Act 2013 must be amended to incorporate these provisions as people in these regions have small landholdings and are considered to be below marginal farmers. On the contrary,  our land is being acquired and repealed land acquisition law is applied for the same. Did MPs from Himalayan states especially J&K ever raise this issue in Parliament?

The land from below marginal farmers in Srinagar, Pulwama and Budgam was taken away for peanuts by National Highways Authority of India -NHAI in 2020 -2021 and the issue was not even raised in Lok Sabha. Our apple trees were axed and provision of tree transplanting was also not given to farmers but this issue wasn’t raised in Lok Sabha. 

For the last decade, I have been saying that snow clearance works should be taken up under the MG NREGA in rural areas of Himachal , Uttrakhand and J&K but no MP ever raised this issue in Lok Sabha. Srinagar is choking with trash and our landfill site at Achan is stinking. How many meetings our MP held with the Union Urban Affairs Minister in the last 5 years. Was this issue ever raised in Lok Sabha?  

Conclusion

Participation of people in elections is the need of the hour as we cannot only complain and not be a part of the solution. Without our participation in the electoral process we cannot expect delivery of good governance. By electing good people we not only help ourselves but this helps strengthen our democratic institutions as well.  

Let us elect educated and energetic leaders who can represent our aspirations in the Parliament. We need leaders who can debate and differentiate between infrastructural development and sustainable development.  We need leaders who are courageous and have the ability to communicate effectively. We don’t need leaders who are visionless. Let us all effectively participate in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with full enthusiasm. Famous author Nannete L Avery says, “Talk is cheap, voting is free; take it to the polls.”

• Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer 

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