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Journalism of Courage
In a first for Jammu and Kashmir, a candidate turned up on Thursday to file his nomination papers for the Assembly elections wearing the GPS anklet used by police to monitor accused who are out on bail. Hafiz Mohammad Sikander Malik is an Independent, standing from Bandipora Assembly seat, backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami.
With nominations closing for the three phases of the Assembly polls in J&K Thursday, the socio-religious outfit that remains banned under the UAPA is in all supporting 10 candidates, including Malik.
Earlier this week, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said that if the Centre was sincere about the Jamaat entering the democratic set-up, it should lift the ban on it. Instead, she said, the Centre had split the Jamaat and “the real Jamaat is behind the bars”.
“It is difficult to understand… One candidate says I am the Jamaat candidate, the other says, ‘No, I am the real one’,” she said. “But the real Jamaat-e-Islami is in jail, the NIA and ED (Enforcement Directorate) are after them.”
The Jamaat decision to enter the fray, nearly 30 years after it announced a boycott of elections and became the face of separatism in the Valley, is, in fact, opposed by many of its own leaders on the ground. This is one reason that while the Jamaat initially planned to field more candidates, several backed out.
On Sunday, a rally held by a Jamaat-backed candidate in Kulgam, seen as the first show of strength by the outfit since 1987, drew a huge turnout – taking many by surprise.
While four Jamaat-backed candidates are in fray in the first phase on September 18, only one is fighting in the second phase, and five have filed their nomination papers for the third.
* Hafiz Mohammad Sikander Malik, Bandipora seat: He was the Bandipora district president of the Jamaat when it was banned in 2019. After the abrogation of special status, Malik, 37, was booked under the Public Safety Act and then the UAPA, and arrested. He got out on bail in December last year.
Malik is facing a former legislator, Congress candidate Nizam-ud-din Bhat, and another ex-MLA contesting as an Independent, Usman Majeed.
* Dr Talat Majeed, Pulwama: Majeed, 47, joined the Jamaat as a rukn (official member) in 2003, but resigned from it in 2014 citing “political differences” with the leadership. A Ph.D and a former employee of the Agriculture Department, he resigned from government service in 2023 and joined the Altaf Bukhari-led Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party.
Majeed’s decision got a lot of traction at the time as he was arguably the first former Jamaat member to join mainstream politics. He told The Indian Express that he was the first to “advise the Jamaat to contest the elections”, but that his suggestion back in 2014 was rejected by the party leadership.
Majeed is facing popular PDP youth leader Waheed ur Rehman Para and the National Conference’s Khalil Ahmad Bandh.
* Ajaz Ahmad Mir, Zainapora: Mir, 38, won the Zainapora seat (then known as Wachi) in 2014 on the PDP ticket, defeating the NC’s Showkat Hussain Ganai. He filed papers as an Independent after the PDP denied him a ticket, and subsequently got the Jamaat’s support.
The PDP’s candidate is Ghulam Mohidin Wani, while Ganai is again the NC candidate. Also in the race is the Independent candidate originally backed by the Jamaat, Umar Hameed.
Mir’s father Mohammad Jabbar Mir won Zainapora as an NC MLA in 1996. He himself became one of the youngest sarpanchs in the Valley in 2011.
In 2018, while he was an MLA, a personal security officer posted at his official residence in Srinagar decamped with eight rifles and joined militant ranks. Mir was questioned several times in the case.
On August 5, 2019, when the Centre scrapped J&K’s special status, Mir was among those detained, and spent six months behind bars.
* Sayar Ahmad Reshi, Kulgam: A former member of the Jamaat, Reshi’s major opponent from Kulgam is its long-time CPI(M) representative, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami. This time Tarigami is the consensus candidate of the Congress-National Conference alliance. Also in the race is the PDP’s Mohammad Amin Dar, a former confidant of Tarigami.
Reshi, 42, was Director, Academics, of the Falah-e-Aam Trust, a Jamaat affiliate that once ran hundreds of schools across J&K. It was Reshi’s first major public rally on Sunday that drew the numbers which took everyone by surprise.
* Nazir Ahmad Bhat, Devsar: The 49-year-old does not have any political background and is seen as a last-minute pick after the Jamaat failed to get a prominent candidate.
To those who point to his political inexperience, Bhat talks about how he has been attending religious seminars of all sects, including the Jamaat, and has “acceptability of the people”.
Bhat is up against the PDP’s Sartaj Madni and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party’s Mohammad Amin Bhat, who had won the seat in 2014 as a Congress candidate.
* Dr Kaleemullah Lone, Langate: He is the son of Ghulam Qadir Lone, a member of the eight-member panel of the Jamaat that decided to return to the democratic process and engage in talks with the Centre for lifting the ban on the organisation. The 36-year-old is an engineering graduate from NIT, Srinagar, and recently finished his doctorate.
Lone is up against Engineer Rashid’s brother Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh (Rashid has been Langate MLA) and People’s Conference’s Irfan Panditpuri.
* Abdul Rehman Shalla, Baramulla: A retired government teacher, Shalla, 74, is the former waqf board president of Baramulla and a businessman involved in social work. He was affiliated with the Jamaat.
Shalla is up against a star line-up, including former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Ahmad Beig, contesting as an Independent, the NC’s Javed Hassan Beig and the PDP’s Rafiq Ahmad Rather.
* Nazir Ahmad Mir, Rafiabad: A Master’s in mathematics, Mir is a retired government lecturer. He was previously affiliated with the Jamaat.
Mir is contesting against the NC’s Javid Ahmad Dar, Apni Party candidate and former legislator Yawar Mir, and the PDP’s Altaf Hussain Malik.
* Manzoor Ahmad Kaloo, Sopore: A businessman from Sopore, Kaloo, 58, was formerly associated with separatists.
Kaloo’s rivals in Sopore are the NC’s Irshad Rasool Kar, former Congress legislator Abdul Rashid Dar, and Independent Mohammad Lateed Wani.
* Farooq Ahmad Ganai, Beerwah: A businessman, the 34-year-old will take on Engineer Rashid’s party’s Nazir Ahmad Khan, former NC legislator Dr Shafi and jailed Independent candidate Sarjan Barkati in Beerwah.
