A Man of the People

Pervaiz Ahmad Mir is also a software engineer. He drives a Ford Escort,wears Rado,Sekonda,Rolex and Cartier watches,owns a Rottweiler and is passionate about trekking. He left his village over two decades ago,as a child of seven. But the young man’s pitch — a promise to end corruption — convinced his village to elect him over a 75-year-old religious preacher,Maulvi Sharief Khan.

“My villagers have voted for change. They wanted to elect a sarpanch who is not only honest but who can fight for their rights,” says Mir,the youngest sarpanch to be elected in the 17-phase panchayat elections being held in Jammu and Kashmir after a decade,and which is drawing high voter turnouts despite the boycott call by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

A narrow serpentine dirt track runs past a gurgling stream and ends at Mir’s house. It’s the last in the village before the LoC begins. Mir’s memories are not of the single-storey house of mud and wood that his father built after the 2005 earthquake. He remembers,instead,the ancestral house where he lived for a while,a childhood in which the boom of shelling was a continuous soundtrack. He was educated in Srinagar,where his father,Ali Mohammad Mir,a former police sub-inspector was posted. “Right from childhood,I dreamt about bringing change to my village. This is the start of my journey,” says Mir,flanked by a group of villagers who helped him in his three-month election campaign. He has shed the campaigning uniform of kurta-pyjama,and now wears a blue checked shirt and denims,a pair of shades and a chunky watch. He poses with ease,unselfconsciously. In his conversations with villagers,he is eager to show them his netbook.

Mir was not groomed by his parents for a career in modelling or politics. “I was never happy with his modelling,I wanted him to become a government employee,” says his father,who was also against his taking part in the panchayat elections. “I never campaigned for him. I am aware of the pitfalls of political and public life,” he says.

Mir was 17 when he started acting; his first assignment a lead role in an Urdu serial produced by Doordarshan. He left for an engineering college in Ratnagiri,Maharashtra,soon after,and in 2008 moved to Mumbai. “I got my portfolio made by veteran photographers. Initially,nobody from the film industry or the advertising world was ready to give me any work as I had no mentor or recommendations. I remember sleeping in public parks on bad days,” he says. Six months later,he got roles in ad campaigns for Babool toothpaste,Charagh Din shirts,and other brands,small and big. His first big break came in late 2008,when he got a role in Ekta Kapoor’s Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

Lachipora is a typical LoC village,nestled deep within the snow-clad mountains of Uri tehsil. It’s 22 km away from Uri town,and a dirt road connects it to the outside world. The river Jhelum flows near it,and on the west is the Lachipora Wildlife Sanctuary,famous for the endangered wild goat Markhore.

It’s a village with only three TV sets,and few have watched their sarpanch on screen,either in advertisements or K-serials. But the good-looking young man,touched by the fairy-dust of the city,is,clearly,a star here. Peasants,labourers and young students from neighbouring villages have travelled on foot to meet him. Youngsters want to follow in his footsteps,and the old believe he has the magic wand of development. “We see potential in him. He can bring change by sharing the experience he gained during his stay in Mumbai and other cities. He can bring new ideas,” says his 70-year-old neighbour Lal-ud-din Melu. Chips in Ghulam Qadir Dar,a village elder: “He is young and hardworking,” and quickly adds,“But he will have to prove his credentials as an honest sarpanch.’’

“I am nervous,” Mir admits,suddenly a trifle uncertain. “My people have a lot of faith in me.”

The village has has borne the brunt of cross-border shelling,and face-offs between militants and the Army. Peace,says Mir,is what everyone is banking on. “If peace prevails,I will try to bring my village on the tourism map as it forms a part of the sanctuary,’’ he says expansively. He looks towards the slopes of the Gagan Gali glacier that overlook his village. “See,at that place,we can develop the country’s best skiing slopes,’’ he says.

His village will need the more basic amenities first. Corruption in the implementation of NREGA schemes and the Indira Awas Yojana agitates the populace. “We want someone who can implement state and central schemes better,” says Dar. Mir seems to be warming up to those realities. “The first thing I want to do is get the internet connection up at the computer centre that the Army runs in the village,” he says. “And then target corruption.”

If politics is the art of convincing your adversaries and keeping them in good humour,Mir has taken a first step. After he defeated the elderly village maulvi,he walked to his home and garlanded him,asking for his support,forgiveness and blessings. “I urged him to pray not for my success but the prosperity of the villagers,” he says. Mir insists he is not going to give up modelling,and will return to Mumbai for shoots and assignments. “My aim in politics is only social work,I don’t want to make it my bread and butter.”

Ask him what made him give up a life in Mumbai for this remote village,he says it was a thought that had been niggling him for 2-3 years. “Many people who have political affiliations tried to dissuade me. Three candidates put up a united opposition to defeat me,but I told them: I am here to stay.’’