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NEWS & LETTERS, November 2002
Historic Kashmir elections
In a truly historic act, the Kashmiri people ousted the
corrupt and dynastic National Conference that has ruled the state throughout its
history in what are widely reported to be the most democratic and popularly
supported elections in decades. The elections issued a clear blow, both to the
Islamist terrorism that has hijacked Kashmir's independence movement and to the
Hindu fundamentalist politics of the government in New Delhi. The National
Conference candidates, who have strong ties to the right-wing Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP)-led coalition government, and the BJP candidates themselves, were
routed by an electorate fed up with violence and betrayal. At issue in the election were basic grievances over roads,
education and the economy, usually ignored by politicians in their ideological
battles over independence versus statehood. It is significant that the BJP was trounced even in the
heavily Hindu region of Jammu, where it has campaigned vociferously by fanning
the flames of Hindu/Muslim tension. Most telling is that the final phases of the
election took place after the brutal attack on the Akshardham Hindu temple by
Islamic militants, which killed over 30 people in the riot-torn state of
Gujarat. But, as has always been the case, South Asian politicians
remain several steps behind the people. Because the two parties most likely to
form a government in Kashmir, the Congress Party and the People's Democratic
Party, cannot decide on who will assume the chief ministership, the state has
been placed under the control of the federal government until a coalition can be
formed--thereby postponing the mandate of the people. Praful Bidwai, a leading commentator on Indian politics,
put it this way: "It is a cruel, painful, but fateful irony for the people
of Jammu and Kashmir that the outcome of the state's landmark assembly elections
should instantly become vulnerable to the whims and fancies of narrow and
manipulative politics." If the politicians in Kashmir don't agree on a solution
soon, this will become a dark and tragic chapter in the history of the region.
The significance of the Kashmiri elections is heightened when seen in the
context of the Pakistani elections, which have given unprecedented electoral
clout to the most rabidly right-wing Islamic fundamentalist groups. The Kashmir
elections are a small opening for democracy in the face of growing
fundamentalism on all sides. The most significant positive development in the region is
that India and Pakistan have begun a withdrawal of troops deployed at the border
over the past year. Nevertheless, gun battles across the Line of Control in
Kashmir continue. Likewise the rise to power of the pro-Taliban Islamic
fundamentalist parties in Pakistan is an ominous development in every way. Not
only does it lessen the chance of a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir issue, it
will also nourish the growth of Islamic fundamentalism's double--Hindu
fundamentalism. --Maya Jhansi |
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