In Kashmir, a backlash against forced integration

Communist leader M.Y. Tarigami, who is contesting for the Lok Sabha from the Anantnag constituency, claims these 8220;integrationist8221; national parties are themselves responsible for the erosion of moves towards integration. 8220;It is not that integrationist forces have weakened in the state, but it is the negative elements in national politics who cried themselves hoarse for integration at the cost of democratic rights of the people of this state,8221; he said. 8220;To me, the only answer is the restoration of greater autonomy. That is the solution to all the problems in Kashmir.8221; In sum, this election will see a backlash against the moves towards integration, and the national parties will have to fall in line with the local mood.

But Mehbooba Mufti, leader of the recently-floated People8217;s Democratic Party, believes there is no scope for national parties atall. 8220;It is true that there has been a problem in Kashmir right from day one of the accession. And this problem became grave as the pseudo-nationalist politicians chose to turn a blind eye to the issue,8221; she said. 8220;We left the Congress as it was becoming impossible to address the strong regional aspirations of the people of Kashmir. Our demand is the demand of the people. We believe greater autonomy can help resolve the Kashmir issue and the initiation of a meaningful dialogue would surely help.8221;

Senior columnist and political activist Balraj Puri believes that a decade of violence led to the polarisation of politics in Kashmir. 8220;On the one hand you have a pro-RSS Chief Minister and on the other, a pro-Jamat-e-Islami Hurriyat Conference,8221; he said. 8220;But now opinion is fast building here among mainstream politicians that extremism of either sort is not acceptable.8221; The National Conference leadership has been taken by surprise by this change of stance. It has reacted by calling the shift to a demandfor greater autonomy as a mere political gimmick to steal the party8217;s main poll plank. 8220;The National Conference is synonymous with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir. We have been fighting for the restoration of autonomy for decades and have also come up with a document clearly indicating what autonomy means to us,8221; said NC general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad. With a clear reference to M.M. Sayeed and his PDP, he said, 8220;It was they who have been eroding our autonomy since 1953 and now, when they have been rejected by the people on all fronts, they have changed tack.8221;

Former Union minister and NC rebel Prof Saifuddin Soz, also a staunch pro-autonomy leader, admitted that the integrationist and centrist political parties have lost all ground in the Valley. However, he believed that most people who talk of greater autonomy are neither serious nor honest. 8220;There is a need for a mass movement for restoring the lost autonomy. The NC did not deliver the goods when they could have easily done it, witha two-thirds majority in the Assembly, and Mufti is just trying to use it as a shortcut to power.8221;

Senior Kashmiri journalist Tahir Mohideen said there was a vast difference in the perceptions of national political parties and the ground reality in Kashmir. Most of the local mainstream politicians seem to be realising this now. 8220;It is very difficult to be in national politics and, at the same time, try to solve the problems of Kashmir by addressing the aspirations of the people,8221; he said.

The bottomline is that after Kargil, opinion has been gaining ground in New Delhi for a solution to the Kashmir problem at the domestic level. It is mirrored by a shift in the mood in Kashmir towards autonomy, and all the mainstream poll rivals in the Valley are doing their level best to cash in on the new trend.