For whom do we vote?

EARLIER, the main pledge of parties revolved around provision of “roti, kapda aur makaan” (food, clothing and housing) in return for votes, later moved on to “bijli, sadak, paani” (electricity, roads and water) promise.

Modern nations are supposed to move on. If the evolution of promises in the election manifestos of political parties are any indication, this dictum certainly would hold for India.

Till about three decades ago, the main pledge of parties revolved around provision of “roti, kapda aur makaan ” (food, clothing and housing) in return for votes.

From around the 1990s, some parties began appending “bijli, sadak, paani ” (electricity, roads and water) to the earlier “roti, kapda aur makaan ” promise – never mind, if the latter still eluded a majority of the population.

Then, as the effects of reforms percolated with the economy being propelled into a new growth trajectory, the platter of electoral promises underwent a further diversification. These were, in turn,

reflective of the wider variety of goods the Indian consumer could aspire to, if not choose, from the

marketplace. Interestingly, in the political marketplace, too, the voter now has a wider choice.

Round from one decade political dramatist begun apending to revoke AFSPA or solve their nomen case like in Shopian “Probe on Asiya Nilofar Case” “Register case against Jagmohan” “solve border disputes”  promises.

“Bijli na Gaes na hii Pani hai…

Aur Tujh par Niamatoon ki Rawaani hai…

Kuch Tou Khayal Kar Gareebon Ka Haakim…

Yeh Hakoomat toh Aani Jaani Hai…”

In order to warm-up the political atmospheres in the Valley both NC and PDP have asked ‘Aam Aadmi’ to take a lead from Pakistan elections ignoring the calls for a boycott.

Hardly realizing the facts that previous elections in J&K with a huge turnout have proved that concurrent with the demands for the permanent settlement of Kashmir Issue through the slogans of ‘Aazadi’ people of the state have decided to vote for Roti Kapda aur Makan besides Bijli Pani and Sadak at the same time. So it sounds childish to equate or tie-up Kashmir psyche with that of Pakistan. Let us not forget Kashmir has its own history its needs and demands.

Its problems whatsoever are home grown and solutions too have to be found within its boundaries. We need to understand that the state is only asking for implementation of the commitments and restoration of its dignity through peaceful means. Its turbulence is the import commodity of bitter relations between its neighbors India and Pakistan.

We can hardly blame the recurrent turbulence as an outcome of rivalries of our politicians and their power politics. Needless to remind that last coalition between Congress and PDP was sacrificed while mishandling ‘Amarnath row’ resulting in the death of scores of young innocents and a standstill of the promised developments in the state. Similarly the present coalition too wasted most of its tenure in political bickering or facing an orchestrated stone pelting from its adversaries confusing the ‘Aam Aadmi’ through multiple juggling. So despite giving a posture of wellbeing all the three musketeers NC, PDP and Congress seem to be in deep waters so long as the judgment of a common voter is concerned. Unless and until some new political force or an alliance comes from the blue the three will have to share the battle ground amongst themselves.

Branding high voter turnout as a clear settlement of political choice between the Indian state and separatist sentiments isolates Kashmiris from their everyday individual and group experiences and strips them of their political aspirations, which are manifested and played out “contradictorily” in a multitude of spaces outside and beyond the polling booths.

In 2008, localised demonstrations over the transfer of 99 acres of public land to the Amarnath shrine board gave way to a much larger struggle, to reassert the claim over their land and lives. Lakhs of people poured out on the streets of Kashmir raising anti-India and pro- freedom slogans. Time magazine reported that the largest demonstration during that phase saw more than 5,00,000 protesters at a single rally, largest in Kashmir’s history. Similarly, the 2010 uprising was marked by pro-independence slogans, a defiance of curfews, attacks on riot police with stones and a burning of vehicles and buildings.

There are other spaces where people have consistently asserted their politics, even in the absence of calls from separatist leaders or being a part of organised demonstrations.

Deaths of militants have evoked show of solidarity by the people where protests erupt instantly at the news of such killings. Marches to the encounter sites, staging pro-freedom demonstrations and anti-India sloganeering mark these protests. They are anything but an aberration in Kashmir. If numbers are the determining factor, then the popular anti-India and pro-freedom protests, with hundreds of thousands of civilians participating, are perceptive of the political aspirations of people, in contrast to the narrative of easy calculations. These protests become an uncomfortable political antithesis to the “democracy of numbers” as defined for Kashmir. Let’s take a quick peek into the history of Assembly elections in Kashmir.

In 1987, followed by a popular uprising and full-fledged guerrilla warfare against India, there was a record voter turnout of 74.9 per cent. During the height of militancy and anti-India sentiments, in 1996, 53.92 per cent voted. In 2008, preceded by protracted anti-India protests, the turnout was 61.49 per cent. This was followed by the pro- azaadi protests of 2010. Therefore,

concluding that huge participation in an election as an absolute verdict on the political will of Kashmiris is not only reductive but renders the act ahistorical.

Author can be reached at: [email protected]. He tweets at:  @ayaan_shafi

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