By Sahil Mahajan
The high voter turnout in two parliamentary constituencies of Kashmir- Srinagar and Baramulla, first with 38 per cent and the second with 59 per cent, has set a trend. There is a hope that it would be replicated in Anantnag-Rajouri constituency which is going to polls on May 25. In all, it is a great news for the country.
This kind of percentage might seem normal in other parts of the country but in Kashmir it is a great progress. The three valley seats that used to record voter turn out from 10 to 25 per cent in the past so many Lok Sabha polls – in 1991 there were no parliamentary polls- it is an extraordinary development. Analysts have figured out certain very important factors behind this emerging trend of high voting – the political commentators and media outlets aligned completely with BJP, the ruling party at the Centre, have attributed it to the changes that have taken place with the abrogation of Article 370, snapping the special status and exclusive rights of the people of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, now divided into two federally administered union territories of Ladakh, and J&K. Their argument is simple that it was only after the abrogation of the Article 370 that Kashmir was left only with one option – to strengthen its physical and constitutional integration with India . The move dealt a deadly blow to the forces of secessionism and terrorism that had been inciting the people against the idea of India and making them to look at other possibilities like “ Azadi” or freedom, or even worse toward Pakistan. The people n Kashmir had known that Pakistan was behind all the death and destruction , but still they were scared to come out openly against the terror unleashed on them. It’s a fact that they wanted peace but the routes were not available.
The abrogation of Article 370 was not merely an administrative order that changed the very idea of Kashmir and its status in the union of India, but it also gave a firm feeling to the people in the Valley that they have an opportunity to embrace peace. They had to suffer the taste of bitter pill, some restrictive measures, undeclared curfew, internet shutdown, and clampdown on communications, but that made them recover from a prolonged disease of confusion and uncertainty. The fear of bullets and bombs had a danger of its own, but no less worrying were the stones that kept them indoors, or left them dead or crippled on the roadside.
They might not have voted for the abrogation of Article 370, but they did vote for the calm and normalcy that has dawned after the abrogation of the special status and other privileges of the people . But this doesn’t deny the link between the two – snapping of Article 370 and the normalcy in which they discovered an amenable atmosphere to vote without fear.
What is imperative now is to confer dignity to the vote. It’s immaterial who wins, but what matters is that whosoever wins has shown faith in the Indian democracy. This trust is more important than anything else. It is a victory for Delhi for it relentlessly pursued a policy of integrating J&K and its people in the national mainstream. Its thesis that it got several high-profile institutions to Kashmir and introduced it to better connectivity has been validated. It is wrong to assume that the voters came out in such large numbers because there was no boycott call- true to some extent- but if looked at deeply, the people would have come out in such large numbers even if there would have been the boycott call. The traditional boycott callers knew that they have been crippled and could not say anything against the elections, but they also knew that any boycott call this time would have gone unheeded, because the people were keen and determined to vote.
Let’s celebrate this moment and also believe that whatever issues have surfaced are analyzed and addressed as that would be the real path opening to what India is looking at complete peace in Jammu and Kashmir, integral part of the country.
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