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Journalism of Courage
Aga Ruhullah Mehdi is the National Conference (NC) candidate from Srinagar, which is expected to be one of the most keenly contested battles in the parliamentary elections in the Union Territory. Mehdi, an influential Shia leader, will take on Waheed Para of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The former minister who served in a government led by Omar Abdullah talks to The Indian Express about his first Lok Sabha contest, Article 370, and what this election means for the people of Kashmir. Excerpts:
I have been expressing my views for a while without the consideration of any election. My concern is the return of dignity and rights that were snatched from us (after Article 370 abrogation).
I wanted for us to mobilise politically and express our dissent … The way people reacted to the farmers’ protests and against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), expressing their opinions and protesting democratically. They did not succumb to the decisions taken by the government.
Electoral politics was not a concern then. I continue to believe that I will not be part of the J&K Assembly. Being part of that Assembly for me is tantamount to legitimising the status of that Assembly. No one had predicted that Assembly elections would be delayed so much. So then, when deliberations for Lok Sabha elections began in the party, they said the sentiment that you express is what all of India needs to hear. For that, this is the forum (Parliament).
People are not just talking about Article 370, they are also emotionally expressing themselves. They have been telling me that this is not an election for roads and development but an election for our identity and rights and that we need to express in a democratic way that we have not surrendered to this status (of a UT).
Protests do not mean that you have to be angry and violent. Protest in a democracy is a healthy factor. The people of J&K were denied that right … This is how the state behaved. They turned J&K into an open-air prison … They created a psyche of fear. When I interact with the public … the only thing I get to hear is, ‘We (people) need you to represent us and speak for what we went through.’
The moment the communication ban was lifted (after Article 370 abrogation), I started speaking on this issue. I was still under house arrest. For nine months, I was locked up at home. I had disagreements with the party … But since that day, I have been speaking about the rights of the people. The people (political leaders) talking about this have begun to speak about this only recently.
Numerically, we cannot change anything in Parliament. But we can try to convey to the country that we are not anti-nationals and Article 370 was an article of faith. We can connect and reach out to the rest of India. We can find like-minded parties from the rest of the country who believe in a stronger federal India.
The first sentence of the Constitution of J&K is that it is an integral part of India. People are made to believe that Modi integrated J&K into India but it was always integrated.
People also say that terrorism in J&K was because of Article 370. Those who picked guns or had separatist tendencies had nothing to do with Article 370. They rejected the Constitution of India altogether and did not identify with it. For us, Article 370 was the argument against them (separatists). The Article defined a dignified relation with the Union of India which in any other country would not provide us. This is the reason why this option (India) was better than other options. Article 370 was a pro-mainstream and pro-democracy argument.
They are concerned about the social fabric that has weakened in the rest of India. The way society is divided and the way fundamentalist ideologies are ruling the streets … I feel that minorities are not safe. Muslims are the larger minority in the country and they face the brunt of it. They see how institutions are compromised, how people from other religions are turned into second-class citizens day by day. They are seeing how the shift from centrist to extreme right ideology has dented the economic progress of the nation. All this affects my voters also.
