By Ullas Sharma
 

The last phase of elections in Kashmir were held on the 8th of October. This included re-polling in four constituencies of Pahalgam and one in Kathua. A massive political exercise has finally come to an end. As in all elections, some candidates won and others lost. There is a fractured mandate, as none of the parties were clear winners. While the National Conference won the maximum 28 seats, they are well short of a majority in a house that has a total strength of 87 seats. The Congress, with 20 seats, and the People's Democratic Party, with 16 seats, are the other major players. There are 22 independents that have won in these elections. Regrettably, the Congress and People's Democratic Party should have formed a coalition, but could not decide on a leader. This is the nitty-gritty of the political situation; however, as an Indian, I can say that most of us are proud of what has been achieved in Kashmir.

For many of us, it is immaterial who won and who lost. It has been a massive victory for the people of India. The elections were held against all odds; our faith in democracy has been restored and reinforced.

Yes, there were killings and bloodshed, but we had expected that and were ready for it. Scores of security personnel lost their lives, and hundreds of civilians were killed. Many candidates were shot dead because they chose to be a part of the democratic process.

The answers for these violent acts are obvious: A nation that had had only a farce of an election, merely a referendum whether to accept or reject the General-turned-President, would have difficulty understanding that Kashmir could have a real election, and that people there could actually choose their own representatives.

The credit for the success of the election process goes to the people of the state of Kashmir, who came out to vote despite threats from militants. There was an unexpectedly high turnout; even the Indian officials did not expect such a high percentage of polling. The average polling turnout in the three phases of the election was more than 40 percent. That is a respectable percentage by any standard and many other states in India (which are not facing insurgency) have had lower election turnouts. There were pockets in Kashmir where there was almost no voting; Srinagar, on the Pakistan border, for example, had almost no turnout. But other parts of the Kashmir valley saw more than 50 percent voter turnout.

As expected, different voting patterns in the several regions of Kashmir show the political realities of the state. While Jammu and Kargil had a high voter turnout, the valley saw relatively lackluster polling. However, even in the valley, there was a marked enthusiasm among the people, and they came out to cast their votes in good numbers. Hurriyat's call to boycott the elections went largely unheeded.

There was resentment among the people against the ruling National Conference. I am not surprised that the National Conference has been ousted, and that there is a hung assembly in Kashmir. Many people came out to vote only because they wanted to ensure that the corrupt Farooq Abdullah government, as they call it, does not come back to power.

Those who have been critical of the current government in Kashmir now have a chance to show what they can do for the state. Omar Abdullah, chief of the National Conference, has said that the people's mandate is against continuation of the National Conference government, and therefore, he and his party will now sit in the opposition. Mr. Omar Abdullah and the National Conference must be congratulated that they chose to go to the polls, knowing ahead of time that they could lose. They could easily have had a token election, as they did a few years ago, or could have continued in power through an ordinance passed by Delhi. Instead, they stuck their neck out, lost, and are ready to sit in the opposition unless the chaos created by the PDP and the Congress leaves them with no choice but to get a government for the people of Kashmir.

One Westerner among the people of Kashmir found the startling fact that, while most people in Kashmir would like to see an independent Kashmir, only 2 percent wanted Kashmir to merge with Pakistan; more than 25 percent wanted it to remain in India.

The one regret among the majority of Indians is the lack of appreciation in the West for what we had to go through to make these elections possible. There were Western observers present who said that the elections were largely free and fair. It was important that the people of Kashmir were given a chance to have their voices heard. The Indian state spent millions of rupees to make this happen.

Election officials were flown from UP, Punjab and Haryana to the most remote regions of Kashmir. Security was beefed up at all sensitive polling booths. It was one huge, costly exercise that the people of India thought worth the taxpayers' money.

Peace in Kashmir is inevitable. It is time our friends from across the border understand the futility of their efforts to keep the Kashmir pot boiling. By doing so, they are hurting themselves in the long run.

The last desperate attempt to sabotage the Kashmir elections came when defenseless devotees in the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat were killed by militants of the Pakistan based Lashkar-i-Toiba. The militants had come from Pakistan and had been trained there. Their motives are still not clear, but many security experts believe that they wanted to instill such fear among the people of India that there would be a mass outcry for the suspension of the Kashmir polls. The Indian public reaction was just the opposite. If anything, the carnage at Akshardham only increased the resolve the people of India to make the democratic process succeed in the troubled northern state.

I believe that the ruling National Conference and the other political parties of Kashmir, the central government along with the opposition led by the Congress, deserve to be congratulated for making the Kashmir elections happen. Leaders from all political parties went out and canvassed for their candidates in the face of threats from militants.

Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi even went to Srinagar to address a meeting. The Hurriyat must be ruing the fact that they did not take part in the elections, other than fielding some proxy candidates.

I am sure the various political parties will be able to resolve their differences, and that there will be a government in Srinagar that will be representative of the people's will in the state. It is time the political leadership of these parties show the courage and the foresight to understand the aspirations of the people and give them the kind of government for which they have voted. If they let the people of Kashmir down, they are writing their own political obituaries.

[Ullas Sharma writes on political and economic issues, especially on South Asia. A post-graduate in marketing management, he is a publisher of academic books on social sciences and humanities. He lives with his wife, Aruna, and their five-year-old son, Utkarsh, in Varanasi, India.]

Ullas Sharma encourages your comments: usharma@YellowTimes.org

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