The just concluded local bodies election in Jammu & Kashmir has shown up starkly what the Centre has attempted to downplay over the last two years — there is a problem in the Valley which is not confined to two-and-a-half districts. The turnout in the four phase election was 4.27 per cent, even lower than in the 1989 election. The turnout for the 2005 local body polls was 45 per cent; the panchayat election in 2011 saw an impressive 80 per cent turnout. Whenever election turnouts have been high, the Centre and the country’s political leadership have been quick to claim that this shows a rejection of separatism and the faith of the people in Indian democracy. So what does this abysmally low turnout say, then? It will be argued that this is not alienation, that people stayed indoors because of the fear of the militants. Moreover, the mainstream NC and PDP boycotted the election, and this could also be attributed to security concerns among their cadres. But that only means that there is so much militancy that it has succeeded in stopping the great election carnival in Kashmir.
The secrecy with which the election was conducted was farcical. Voters learnt for the first time who their candidates were only when they entered the booth. There were no candidates in many places, and no contest in others. There is no way this election can be presented to Kashmir, India or the world as a representative election. But it is a chance to learn some lessons and plot a more sensible way forward.
How did India get to this new low in Kashmir? The answers are there for those who want to see — a complete absence of political outreach to the Valley, not just to the separatists who were cut out of the equation right at the beginning of the Modi government’s term, but also with the mainstream regional parties that have mediated between the Centre and Kashmir. Even the PDP, which partnered with the BJP to form a coalition in J&K, was left out in the cold. A “special representative” appointed by the Home Ministry has no role. Then there was the constant intrusion of thinly veiled Hindutva projects, especially the legal challenge to 35 A, which has further strained the equation. The alienation which began in 2008 during the Amarnath land row and aggravated after the 2010 Afzal Guru hanging, grew roots with the 2016 Burhan Wani killing. On top of it all, talks with Pakistan have been in deep freeze. Kashmir needs India’s urgent attention. It can no longer wait for the BJP to win all the elections that it wants to win.
