Opinion In Kashmir, arrest of AAP MLA threatens to turn back the clock on democratic promises

the 2024 assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir promised a new beginning. The first election after the abrogation of Article 370 signalled the return of the political process to the erstwhile state and raised hopes that the people would once again speak and be heard through their elected representatives. The optimism of that moment was not unmixed, however, it carried an underlying apprehension: After all, the Lieutenant-Governor, an appointee of the Centre, continues to hold vast powers, raising concerns over the circumscribing of the elected chief minister’s room for manoeuvre. The arrest of the sole Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA, Mehraj Malik, this week under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) underlines those fears and raises spectres of the clock being turned back in Kashmir.

Malik has been charged with “disturbing public order” by the police, which reports to the L-G’s office, not the Omar Abdullah government. The Doda MLA is known to be outspoken in demanding public services and agitating for them, using social media to amplify his voice. Before his arrest, a video emerged of Malik arguing with and allegedly abusing Doda’s Deputy Commissioner over the shifting of a health sub-centre. In arresting him, however, the J&K authorities show a wilful ignorance of the basics of democratic governance. An MLA, any elected representative, wears many hats. They are not just lawmakers — they must, in different circumstances, be advocates for their constituents and even, on their behalf, become “activists”. This is part of the negotiation and thrust and parry of democratic politics and in a society governed by the rule of law, the space for it must be expanded and protected. Using preventive detention under the PSA to jail an elected representative who is doing his job speaks of grave state over-reach.

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Malik is the first sitting MLA in J&K’s history to be jailed under the PSA. His arrest sends a chilling message to the political class and broader society in Kashmir on the limits on the freedom of expression and the space allowed to the political opposition. The arrest also raises a fundamental question: Who speaks for the “public” for whose purported “safety” the MLA has been jailed? Almost the entire political class in the Valley, including Omar Abdullah, has condemned Malik’s arrest, even though Malik has been a loud critic of the National Conference and the state government. There have also been several protests in Doda over his detention. The record turnout in the 2024 polls showed people’s faith in democratic processes in Kashmir. Those hard-won gains must not be jeopardised by a strong-armed state.