When a ruling political party celebrates the policy of disempowering or destabilizing one of its regions and makes it an election plank to exploit voters, isn’t something to get worried about?  Or examine the party officials for rejoicing over the humiliation of its people? Does it not raise questions about its patriotic beliefs or timely benefits of vote grabbing?

‘How bizarre it looks that, On the one hand, the ruling party asserts its entitlement by forcing anti-people policy on Jammu and Kashmir and, on the other hand, keeps taunting the local population by provoking them. This reflects a low mentality of some politicians and exposes the inherent hatred against the population that recently rejected it very severely in Assembly elections.

The ruling party’s celebration of disempowering Jammu and Kashmir reflects a troubling trend in electoral politics and governance.

Arvind Raina, a professor of political science in the Capital Delhi, while discussing the recent election brawls of political parties, says that ‘votes are demanded in exchange for a policy of subjugating Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian elections, which is certainly a sign of degradation of electoral democracy in India. Your intention of keeping control over the land but exhibiting hate against the people will push JK much further away.

Many analysts observed during the recent election campaign in the two Indian states of Maharashtra and Jharkhand that the two major political parties, the ruling and opposition while discussing scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s internal autonomy, wanted to take credit for ending it and making people powerless in their home.

The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress party had no other argument or agenda to sell except to score points on reducing the erstwhile State to a non-entity. In their election campaign, they convinced voters that India’s integrity and sovereignty had been saved only by dictatorial demoting this region to a union territory. The authority to govern the region lies with the central government, which amounts to conquering it. Most voters had no clue about JK or its autonomy and wanted their local issues to be addressed.

Because of claims and counter-claims, point scoring has turned Kashmir into an electoral jackpot lottery in Indian elections, during which an attempt to lure voters over JK’s disempowerment had reached a climax.

Since the removal of Art 370 and Art 35A in August 2019, the BJP has already had a big catch of its decision in every election, declaring it in a way that it was something like freedom given to the region, which has been captured now and asked the people to vote in exchange for a policy of politically, economically and socially disempowering its ‘integral’ part. Surprisingly, Congress wanted a part of the flesh, too.

For the first time, the Congress trumpeted its earlier policy of hollowing down the internal autonomy given to it in return for its accession with India. It repeated its statement in the assembly elections that it does not support the restoration of Article 370 included in the manifesto of its ally National Conference but is limited to the restoration of statehood only.

Political parties are using Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy removal as a bargaining chip in elections, undermining democratic values.

National Conference, the ruling party in JK, was taken off guard and left embarrassed. The party has promised that if people would vote for it and its ally, Congress,  both parties could work together on restoring Art 370 and Art 35A.

To the dismay of the people, the resolution on special status passed by the National Conference in the first Assembly recently neither mentioned Article 370 nor condemned the decision of the BJP government of August 2019. Instead, it limited itself to the restoration of statehood and special status enjoyed by more than two dozen Indian states. Internal autonomy granted earlier is somewhat better than the special status guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.

At the time of partition, the Muslim-majority State of Jammu and Kashmir was supposed to join Pakistan for being in geographical contiguity and the two Nation formula basis. But, the Kashmir-based leader Sheikh Abdullah went against his people and joined India on the credence of its secular character. India had promised internal sovereignty, which was granted and taken back.

The opposition party, Congress chief Malik Arjun Kharge, outrightly rejected the election agenda and did not mention the Art 370 restoration promise. He indicated that his party had already undermined Jammu and Kashmir’s internal autonomy and that they had become allies of the National Conference only on granting statehood back to JK.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir were deeply hurt by his statement, especially those who had recently made the party win six seats in the Muslim belt while the BJP had already wiped it out in the Jammu region.

Social activist in Kashmir Imran Ali says that while the National Conference has given a few seats on a platter to Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, the voters have given the National Conference a new lease of life by bringing it back from its deathbed when it was elected with a vast majority on the sole agenda of restoring Article 370. It was typical for Congress and NC to betray the people once again.

The National Conference’s recent actions have disappointed voters who hoped for a restoration of Article 370 and greater autonomy.

‘After only a few weeks, the National Conference has shown its true colours,  creating anxiety and disappointment among the people using the language BJP has spoken since it came to power. The public believes that the National Conference is backtracking on its stand. Earlier, this party accepted the application of all the laws that were imposed on the State after the arrest of Sheikh Abdullah in 1953 and robbed us of our internal sovereignty. This time, it has legitimized the August 2019 decision of BJP’, Imran said to me.

The BJP is hoodwinking the rest of India that by abolishing Articles 370 and 35A and reducing it to a Union Territory, it has completely integrated Jammu and Kashmir into India like it had snatched it from another country. In reality, the BJP has left JK powerless and under the remote control of the Center. The national political parties are telling people that the Instrument of Accession was made permanent only by hollowing the internal autonomy of the State that was a part of the Indian constitution.

Elections have been held in Jammu and Kashmir since partition, but like in the past, the agenda or interpretation of the election results has changed its meaning altogether. The new narrative is that only after 2019 did JK become an integral part of India.

For the last decade, the freedom fighters were removed from the political scene, and now the mainstream has been ousted from power position despite the elections. What next is anybody’s guess.

People are challenging the National Conference to explain why the Assembly was formed when it knew it would be a powerless body. The NC government has yet to fulfil its promise of providing 200 units of electricity to the people, which it had promised to implement in the first week of its government. Why is it then hanging with the powerless Assembly?

The erosion of internal autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir poses significant challenges to the region’s stability and governance.

It should be noted that at the time the instrument of accession was approved by the most popular leader of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, the promise of granting internal autonomy was not only made in the House of Parliament, but the then Indian government assured the United Nations that it would remain as a temporary provision for JK until the Kashmir issue was resolved between the two countries, Pakistan and  India.

The Kashmir dispute was one of the main agendas of discourse at the United Nations, and an arbitrator had been appointed to resolve it. Since then, the Congress has shallowed the special provisions of autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir so many times through its presidential or parliamentary orders that it has become challenging to count now.

During assembly elections in JK, when the alliance between the Congress and the National Conference was formed, a large section of the people understood that the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, had regretted its earlier Kashmir policy and that it would support the people in restoring its guarantees, special position and basic rights given the current volatile situation in the region. Due to this perception, the party was voted with a few seats in elections.  But it started its old mantra, and to win elections in two Indian states, it did not hesitate to smash the hopes raised by the 15 million population.

JK has never hoped for anything from the BJP, due to which it was severely defeated in Kashmir, sending a strong message that they will never accept its aggressive policies, Hindutva agenda, and sinister plans.

Nobody would be bothered if the BJP continued with its agenda of selling Article 370, but people are pained to see that Congress has started running an even more dangerous agenda.

Kashmiri voters are in a dilemma: By voting for the National Conference and its ally Congress, will they have to endure hardships for five years again? Has the NC once again fooled the voters and given legal legitimacy to the decision of August 5, 2019?

Imran Ali says, ‘If the NC thinks it is in power for another five years and no one can challenge it, it is mistaken.  This is the big flaw of democracy: the situation changes in a flash of a second and ways beyond anyone’s imagination.’

Why did people vote for NC if they knew its track record?

This time, people had no choice. They wanted to vote against the BJP, and the only option was a win for the cadre-based party NC. Their only choice forced them to vote for NC when, otherwise, the condition of the National Conference was worse than that of other parties whose party structure has either been shattered by splits or made suspicious by making them the A or B team of the BJP.

The historical context of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India complicates current political dynamics and public expectations.

Although disarray against the National Conference is growing among the people, people on social media are emphasizing unity within their ranks, preparing to play the role of an organized and united opposition, and demanding that the ruling party account for their votes. BJP could play the role of opposition in the Assembly. Yet, its prejudice toward Kashmir prevents it from raising the issue concerned with internal autonomy or constitutional guarantees for the region. That would be its end among Hindutva voters.

The disappointment among the people, the powerlessness of the elected government, and the celebrations of the BJP over the disempowerment of the region have the potential of another disaster with an uncertain future and vulnerability to gun culture.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.