Three-and-a-half decades after it spearheaded militancy in the Valley, the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir has decided to return to electoral politics. Jamaat leaders said they are only waiting for the Centre to lift the ban on the outfit, in place under the UAPA since February 2019, with sources saying that several rounds of talks have happened with the government.
If it contests the Assembly elections, scheduled to happen by September end, it would be the first major policy change by the Jamaat since 1998, when it had dissociated itself from militancy. This eventually led to a split in the socio-religious organisation, with hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani floating his own outfit, the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), in 2004.
A senior member of an eight-member panel formed by the Jamaat to run its organisational affairs, who claims to be a part of the talks with New Delhi for revocation of the ban on the outfit, told The Indian Express: “We are returning to the original dastoor (the Jamaat’s constitution), the pre-1987 position.” The Jamaat contested elections for the last time in 1987.
Apni Party leader Altaf Bukhari, who is seen as close to Delhi, played a key role in mediating on their behalf with the Centre, the member said, “without asking for votes”. “When the National Conference was not ready to take this burning fire pot (Jamaat) into its hands, when the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) was not ready, he (Bukhari) came forward.”
Bukhari told The Indian Express: “Yes, I helped them in their talks with the Centre… Let me assure you that the talks happened at the highest level in the government of India.”
The Jamaat member, who did not want to be identified “for security reasons”, said: “The government’s first condition was that we should vote. We told them that we (Jamaat) were never for a boycott of elections and did so only because other people did.” The decision to contest the elections was taken on June 30, he said, adding that they wished the government would hurry up on the talks.
One of the panel members, Ghulam Qadir Lone, said: “Why do we want to contest? We want to connect with the people again.” He added that they felt that rather than supporting a political party in case of elections, “it was better that we contest ourselves”.
The panel member who did not want to be identified added that while the Jamaat “would not compromise on religious matters”, it was open to alliances. “Alliances are a part of politics. There could be a pre-poll or post-poll alliance, we will see.”
The member said they were open to all parties, including the National Conference – “our Ameer (panel chief Ghulam Qadir Wani) has said we are ready to forget past enmities” – but indicated that the favourite was the Apni Party.
Announcing the extension of the ban on the Jamaat in February, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had posted on ‘X’: “The organisation is found continuing its activities against the security, integrity and sovereignty of the nation… Anyone threatening the security of the nation will face ruthless measures.”
Significantly, in the Lok Sabha elections held in May this year, that saw voters participating enthusiastically compared to previous polls, several top Jamaat leaders, including Ghulam Qadir Wani, cast their ballots for the first time since 1987. That was an initial hint that the party may return to active electoral politics.
The Jamaat leaders turned out to vote despite the government extending the ban on the outfit by five more years in January.
Any decision by the Jamaat could be decisive as it is the only other cadre-based party in Kashmir apart from the National Conference.
The eight-member panel now running the affairs of the Jamaat was formed two years ago, via a ballot, at a time when the top leadership of the outfit was behind bars. Since they were came out of jail, at least two senior Jamaat leaders – Dr Abdul Hameed Fayaz, who was the Jamaat chief when it was banned in 2019 and is out on parole, and Faheem Mohammad Ramzan, who was released after the PSA against him was quashed – have put their weight behind the panel.
Fayaz told reporters recently: “The Jamaat’s Shoora (highest decision-making body) has given powers to this panel, and we second it… It is up to the panel to decide how to go forward and to which length.”
The panel also claims the support of a majority of the “rukn (official members)” of the Jamaat.
It reportedly also has the go-ahead of former Jamaat chief Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, under whom the outfit took the decision to stay away from militancy. “He (Bhat) told us that the former Jamaat chiefs are very old and can’t move around,” Lone said.
Bhat had taken over as head of the Jamaat in 1998, at the end of a five-year ban. Soon after, he had announced at a press conference that the Jamaat was breaking ties with the Hizbul Mujahideen, the Valley’s largest militant outfit that described itself as a wing of the Jamat.
This was a surprise move as for a long time after militancy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990, most of the Hizbul Mujahideen’s cadres were drawn from Jamaat families, including its leader Syed Salahuddin.
The eight-member panel seconds Bhat’s views, as expressed at the time, that the Jamaat was “dragged” into militancy. “It is on record that in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), when Bhat sahib was asked to spearhead militancy in the Valley (by Pakistani authorities), he told them that the Jamaat doesn’t believe in underground activities,” the senior panel member quoted above said.
According to this panel member, they held their first meeting at Church Lane in Srinagar, an official enclosure where such a meeting could not have happened without government knowledge. He said all the members at the meeting agreed that talks should be held with the Centre for revocation of the ban.
The Jamaat had regularly contested elections, fighting for the last time, in 1987, under the banner of the Muslim United Front (MUF), an amalgam of social, religious and political parties. That year’s elections, though, were marred by widespread rigging, allegedly by the Congress-led Central government. The MUF ended with four seats – three of them won by Jamaat members – and the resentment against the “stolen” election acted as the immediate spark for militancy. One of those who lost due to alleged rigging was Salahuddin.
However, several former Jamaat leaders feared that the panel would fail as it has “no connect with the ground (workers)”. “There are members at the top and maybe they discussed the matter with a few other leaders. But a majority of the workers have no idea what is happening. The statements about the Jamaat’s participation in elections are a surprise to us,” a former Jamaat leader told The Indian Express.
A large number of Jamaat cadres, in fact, are believed to be more loyal to Geelani’s hardline ideology.
Hoping that there won’t be a repeat of the 2004 split, Lone admits they have not been able to get everyone on board. However, he adds that some things were beyond their control. “We are a banned organisation and if we had held a meeting or something, the government could have acted against us… When the ban is lifted, we will go to every one of the workers, and we hope they will back our decisions.”
If it contests the Assembly elections, scheduled to happen by September end, it would be the first major policy change by the Jamaat since 1998, when it had dissociated itself from militancy. (Express file photo by Shuaib Masoodi) 
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