With election process in Kashmir concluding rather peacefully local security apparatus and New Delhi are upbeat to claim a victory over separatists. But separatist cry foul blaming peace and participation was achieved by hundreds of nocturnal raids, arrests, house-arrests of their leaders and activists across Kashmir, Shah Abbas reports
“The men in uniform came and harassed me and my children. Asking for my husband who was at his sister’s residence, the SOG men and police personnel behaved in such a rude and terrifying manner that one of my kids heartbeat could be heard from a distance.”
These are the words of a forty-years-old lady (name withheld) living in Memender, a peripheral village of Shopian town in south Kashmir while narrating a raid on her residence during the intervening night of 12 and 13 December.
The lady’s husband, Tariq Ahmad Ganai, is a separatist activist who used to get arrested every now and then on “fabricated cases”. “Everybody knows my separatist credentials but that does not mean my children and other relatives would be harassed and tortured by the men in uniform whenever they wish,” Tariq told Kashmir Life.
Tariq was among hundreds of separatist activists who were on police’s wanted list during polls. Many of them were arrested and taken to “preventive custody” to “ensure peaceful conduct of the elections”.
But Tariq spent some nights away from his home and saved himself from getting arrested. “I was released in the October only after months of illegal incarceration so I wanted to stay with my family this time,” Tariq said adding “only me and all those arrested frequently know the pain of remaining away from kids.”
All the separatist leaders who have been released after the poll process ended in the valley, are stunned how to react to the high poll turn out. They in one voice call the elections “a drama” but do not confess that a large chunk of people who participated in them are the characters of it.
Jammu and Kashmir police chief K Rajendra on October 31 said that for the smooth conduction of the assembly polls, stern action will be taken against “elements” who would try to disrupt the poll process. And in the next couple of days police launched a massive crackdown on separatist camp arresting all its frontline leaders including Mohammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Moulana Mohammad Abdullah Tari and others. Police also tightened the house detention of old and ailing separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and arrested almost all the ground level workers of Hurriyat conference led by him. Police also arrested its spokesman Ayaz Akbar and house arrested Geelani’s close associate and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat general secretary, Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai.
“More than fifteen hundred people were arrested ahead of polls from all the districts of the valley,” a Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader said, adding they included some of our senior activists like Syed Imtyaz Hyder and others. The arrested include dozens of workers of JKLF and Muslim League outfits as well. Zafar Akbar Bhat, a Hurriyat (M) leader, was also arrested even though the said faction of separatists terms elections as “a non issue”.
Now after the release of almost all the arrested separatist leaders except Geelani and Malik , many analysts believe that by arresting separatists or confining them to prevent them from campaigning for boycott is violation of the constitutional rights. “It was a one sided game,” said a senior separatist activist released few days back adding “our arrest was illegal so is the conduct of the elections.”
Another argument by the separatists is that elections “with the support of 8 lakh forces, policemen and by putting influential resistance leadership behind bars has no credibility.”
But, the fact is that elections were held and apparently the argument of separatists will have no impact on the formation of the new government. In this scenario, political commentators are already questioning separatist’s stance of boycotting election process!
The separatists themselves believe that conduct of elections will have no bearing on the disputed nature of Jammu and Kashmir. Since then they call for a boycott. “New Delhi tries to mislead international community by saying that people have in fact voted in favour of India that is why we reject their conduct,” Nayeem Ahmad Khan, who was released recently after two months told Kashmir Life. “If sincere, New Delhi should come clear about the J&K elections by saying that they are held to address the governance issues only, then and only then our boycott call will be unfathomable.”
Analysts believe that New Delhi’s stand towards elections provides Geelani a reason to say “if I remain the only person in Kashmir to call for boycott the elections, I will not change my stance even then.”
According to Shabir Shah, the head of the third faction of Hurriyat Conference, “electoral activity is detrimental for the ongoing freedom movement. We don’t believe in the so-called elections that were conducted forcibly and under the shadow of gun.”
Almost all the separatists have out rightly rejected the elections but fact of the matter is that elections were held and the people participated in them. This is also a fact that by participating in polls, the people of Kashmir have not rejected or given up their political demand of plebiscite.
But the poll process will continue to arrive after every six years with new discussions and issues. Who knows how many will participate in 2020 elections and how many will remain aloof? It depends upon the development made in the next six years on which votes were secured and cast this time.
