J&K Polls Phase 3: Govt Must Put Country Above Party and Ensure a Fair Contest

The most intriguing aspect of this last phase is that the home base of 'Engineer' Rashid and Sajad Lone overlap.

Security personnel stand guard at a polling station ahead of the 1st phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, at Pampore area in Pulwama district.

(Photo: PTI)

The way things stand after the first two rounds of polling in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference is likely to have the largest chunk of seats. However, it is the third round of polling that will determine whether a stable government will be formed or not.

Opinion makers and concerned citizens ought to urge the government to put the country before the party and ensure that a free and fair third round is held in both Kashmir and Jammu. The predominantly Hindu belt of Jammu and the home base of both `Engineer’ Rashid and Sajad Lone, are to vote in this last phase on 1 October.

Some eyebrows have been raised since the government changed the top police officers across north Kashmir just as the election process got going. It did so in Srinagar city too.

During his Lok Sabha campaign, and again during his assembly campaign, PDP Youth President Waheed Para repeatedly spoke of the rigging of the 1987 elections. In fact, all right-thinking citizens across the country should warn against a potential repeat of that. It would be a tragic reversal of the various moves to win stability over the past quarter-century—by Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mufti Sayeed, and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Sajad v Rashid 

The most intriguing aspect of this last phase is that the home base of Rashid and Sajad overlap. Their parties are contesting strongly against each other in the northernmost Kupwara district, including four that may be called their home constituencies—Langate, Handwara, Kupwara, and Trehgam.

Langate is Rashid’s erstwhile seat, for which his brother is contesting this time, but Sajad’s People’s Conference is giving him a run for his money there.

Handwara is Sajad’s home constituency, but Rashid’s candidate could damage his vote share enough to give former National Conference minister Chaudhary Ramzan the advantage. Sajad is also contesting the adjacent Kupwara seat but might trail there.

Trehgam is interesting because many presumed it had been carved out for the Lone family when this new constituency was created during the recent delimitation. It includes the Lone Harai village from which the Lone family hails. Trehgam was also the home of Maqbool Butt, who was hanged in 1984 for the murder of a bank manager—when Butt and his comrades were looting the bank.

Sajad and Rashid’s candidates are engaged in a multi-cornered contest in Trehgam too.

Choosing a State Ally Between Rival Secessionists 

When the elections got going, it was presumed that the state machinery would do its utmost to ensure victories for Sajad’s candidates. Soon, however, it became evident (at least to the perceptive) that the apparatus had switched to giving Rashid’s men their best shot.

Sajad added fuel to the fire of speculation by publicly stating that he was under pressure to get his candidate in Langate to withdraw from the contest in exchange for Rashid’s (perhaps covert) help in Handwara. No doubt Kupwara could have been part of the negotiation too. He thundered that he would not make such a bargain.

Then, Sajad raised the pitch further, publicly raising slogans that directly targeted Prime Minister Modi—and smacked of secessionism: "Jo Modi ka yaar hai, woh gaddaar hai, gaddaar hai," he roared. "Hamaari viraasat, Abdul Ghani Lone hai," he added, invoking his father, who was a prominent member of the secessionist Hurriyat Conference for nine years until his assassination in 2002.

On the other hand, Rashid refused to clearly assert that he was an Indian, even after taking the oath as an MP. “People have lost the right to ask me if I belong to India because I am not treated as an Indian even after becoming the Baramulla MP,” he was reported as saying after his release from jail two weeks ago.

Cherish the Peace Dividend 

The government would be well advised to wrap up whatever support elements in the state apparatus may have afforded to either Rashid or Sajad over these past few weeks and concentrate instead on holding a free and fair last round of polling next Wednesday. It is the way to a stable and secure future, not only for the erstwhile state but for India.

The government should take warning from the rise in hard-knuckled militancy, mainly in the Doda-Kathua stretch but also in the Kupwara and Kulgam districts of the Valley since Modi took the oath of office for the third time in early June. The men in the field seem to be highly trained fighters from Pakistan. They pose a potent danger.

The last thing we need at a time like this is political turmoil, street agitations, or a revival of local militancy. The greatest asset for the country is that the people of Kashmir do not want a return to any of those disturbances.

That sentiment must be applauded, respected, and cherished.

(The writer is the author of ‘The Story of Kashmir’ and ‘The Generation of Rage in Kashmir’. He can be reached at @david_devadas. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)