by Syed Shadab Ali Gillani
SRINAGAR: An afternoon newsbreak in a major Kashmir newspaper that veteran Gujjar leader, Mian Altaf Ahmad is unwell, may not campaign and could give up his mandate triggered panic in Kashmir’s political class. It was the most talked about “thing” across party lines as his candidature from south Kashmir – Pir Panchal Lok Sabha constituency is being seen as JKNC’s masterstroke.
The panic could not spare even the JKNC Vice President, Omar Abdullah, who rushed to Kangan and saw his candidate. The “crisis” halted only after Mian Altaf issued a video statement that his son Mehran recorded and disseminated from his social media accounts.
The afternoon newsbreak suggested the JKNC suffered a “setback” as Mian Altaf may skip campaigning owing to his “poor health”, a development that could “cast a shadow over his candidature” from challenging Pir Panchal berth. Doctors, the news report said, have advised him to “rest” for six weeks, as was confirmed to the newspaper by Mian personally. “I won’t be able to campaign or go out,” he told The Greater Kashmir.
Mian is the JKNC candidate from the Pir Panchal constituency which has an electorate on either side of the mountain foothills delinked by language, ethnicity and roads. He is pitted against Mehbooba Mufti, whose family has held the pre-delimitation constituency thrice, so far, only to be wrested by JKNC in 2019.
People started linking the newsbreak with several videos in which a few people were heard questioning the candidature of Mian Altaf, a Gujjar leader, whose family is respected for the religious leadership of the community for more than four generations. A whisper campaign suggested that Mian Altaf might be weighing the twin roles he is holding for his community- a most respected and unchallenged status as a religious leader, and the role of a contestant where he could confront uncomfortable questions.
Interestingly, Mian Altaf, a thorough gentleman and a five-time lawmaker, has hardly engaged in tribal politics and has the reputation of being a mainstream politician who hardly makes a distinction between tribes, ethnicities and faiths. However, his Lok Sabha candidature would get him out of the confines of Kangan to a wider landscape across the Pir Panchal where the mountain divides too many identities. At the same time, his family has remained a respected clan within the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier, the family was with Congress and then moved into the JKNC fold.
Mian Altaf’s skipping campaign could have serious consequences for Jammu and Kashmir’s oldest political party which has decided to revive its earlier status of being the sole representative of Kashmir. It is contesting all three Kashmir seats without anybody’s support or alliance, barring Congress, which retains a thin influence in Kashmir.
The situation was tense for the entire day till Omar drove to Kangan, and met the “ailing” leader, who eventually issued a statement. The “crisis” was compounded by social media uploading a carpet-bomb commentary on the issue.
In his nearly 200-second video, the Gujjar leader dispelled “rumours” and insisted that the status quo is retained. “I was unwell for the last few days. Initially, the doctors indicated I may be suffering from jaundice,” Mian said in the video. “However, it was proved by tests to be a case of mild fever.”
The Gujjar leader said he has recovered in the last few days. “I will not back out from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat,” he insisted. “Omar Abdullah met me today at my residence and enquired about my health condition. He did not visit to discuss political issues but enquired about my health condition only.”
