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Democracy, Government, Political Parties
Legislative Assembly Elections
The most notable success in the efforts to restore civil governance in J&K was the successful conduct of the Legislative Assembly elections despite large-scale terrorist violence perpetrated by Islamist terrorist groups.
The democratic exercise was acknowledged, both in India and by the international community at large, as being fair, free and transparent.
These elections were held in four phases during September - October 2002.
The whole electoral process, from the date of notification on August 22 till the fourth phase on October 8, was marred by high levels of violence and intimidation by the Pakistan-based terrorist formations, which organized a series of attacks against political parties contesting the elections, security forces and the electorate.
In the build-up to the elections, killings of political activists reached an all-time high, with 34 political leaders and workers killed in the four weeks following the announcement of elections on August 22.
Many of the victims were middle-level functionaries of the then ruling National Conference. Functionaries and supporters of other parties were also targeted. Representatives of village-level local bodies were also killed. There was an
organized attempt to intimidate civil society ahead of the elections, and 168 civilians succumbed to terrorist attacks between the beginning of August and September 22, while another 179 were injured.
Even leaders from the secessionist front, the APHC, fell victim to terrorist violence, as was dramatically witnessed in the assassination of the Hurriyat’s Abdul Gani Lone on May 21. Lone's 'crimes' included a willingness to engage in a dialogue with the Indian government, opposition to the presence of Pakistanis among terrorist groups active in J&K, and an articulation of his belief that there was no military solution to the 'Kashmir problem'. His assassination was also directed towards neutralizing the moderate voice in the State’s political discourse.
There were also a high degree of intimidation through statements and posters.
During the electoral process, the Pakistan-based Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM), in its strategy of subverting the democratic process in the State, said that the "elimination of activists of the ruling National Conference party was the initial phase of this programme."
Similarly, the Islamic Front, while pointing out that separatist leaders were forbidden from participating in the elections, threatened, "We will never forgive those who will take part in Indian polls."
Earlier, Pakistan, on August 10, 2002, had said that elections in Jammu and Kashmir were a charade that would not give people the choice they wanted. "Regardless of the drama they (the Indians) would like to enact, that is no substitute for giving them (Kashmiris) a choice of joining Pakistan or India," said Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, the Pakistani military regime’s spokesperson.
The secessionist conglomerate APHC had earlier indicated, on April 4, 2002, that it would not contest the Assembly elections, and said that ballots could not solve the ‘Kashmir issue’. Elections, said Abdul Gani Bhat, APHC chairman, "are not the answer to our questions put to the international community about fulfilling our promises made at different international fora. We have not reviewed or reversed our 1996 decision not to participate in elections."
The Hurriyat had, earlier in January 2002, floated an idea that it would form its own Election Commission to conduct polls in J&K for electing ‘true representatives’ of the people, who could then hold talks for resolving the Kashmir issue peacefully.
According to the plan – a non-starter in the end - the election process was to be completed in three phases: In the first phase, elections were to be held in Kashmir, the second phase to cover Jammu and Ladakh and the final phase in PoK. The Hurriyat even announced a six-member "Jammu and Kashmir People’s Election Commission" on February 12. Two co-chairmen - Tapan Kumar Bose, human rights and peace activist from India and Justice Sajad Ali Shah, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed it. Other members of the commission included Ved Bhasin, a veteran journalist from Jammu, Zafar Mehdi from Srinagar, Siddiq Wahid from Ladakh and Justice Raja Khursheed from
PoK.
However, despite sustained terrorist violence accompanied by the intimidation of electorate, the democratic exercise was successfully carried out. The State recorded an average turnout of 42 per cent in the four-phased elections. Furthermore, such a voter turnout was registered despite the boycott by secessionist formations in the State.
Voter turnout in the first round held in the worst hit districts of north Kashmir and western Jammu, exceeded the projected expectations. There was also a varied pattern of voter turnout during this phase. In areas like Kupwara and Handwara, voter turnout was considerably higher than in 1996. Moreover, this occurred despite the assassination of State Law Minister, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, in the adjoining Lolab valley on September 11. However, Sopore, with a considerable presence of the Islamist right Jamaat-e-Islami, registered an extremely low voter turnout.
Terrorist violence did, however, succeed in reducing turnout sharply in some areas, like the Rajouri and Poonch districts. In an encounter with the security forces at Surankote in Poonch, five Lashkar-e-Toiba cadres were killed even as voting was underway. Terrorist groups cordoned off several remote villages of the region, while 107-milimetre rockets were fired at the Thanamandi and Surankote areas. Poonch and Rajouri also witnessed many incidents of pre-election terrorist violence. In the week before polling, a prominent NC leader, Qazi Mohammad Riaz, was shot dead at his residence near the Shahdara Sharif shrine in Thanamandi, Poonch. Another of his party colleagues was killed at Mendhar in Rajouri. The worst pre-election attack occurred on September 11, when a rally being addressed by All India Congress Committee (I) general secretary Ambika Soni and State Congress (I) president Ghulam Nabi Azad was attacked in Surankote city. Four unidentified terrorists opened fire on the rally killing ten SF personnel and two civilians. While two terrorists were killed in retaliatory firing by the SFs, 22 civilians were injured in this incident.
Approximately 41 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the second phase of polling, conducted on September 24 in the districts of Jammu and Srinagar. While relatively lesser number of voters exercised their franchise in the urban segments of Srinagar, voter turnout was high in the rural areas.
With approximately 30 attacks on polling stations and security forces since September 30 night, the third phase of polling on October 1 in Pulwama and Anantnag districts was the most violent among the four phases. Seven SF personnel were killed in Pulwama when a vehicle carrying a unit of the 47th battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) returning to Awantipore was targeted at Graogund in the Sangam-Awantipore belt. Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts were reported at poling stations in the Littar, Gulzarpora and Kellar areas of Pulwama district. Besides, incidents of grenade attacks and firing by terrorists were also reported from Saimoh, Machhahama, Midora, Pinglish, Khasipora, Naner, Shikargah, Lam, Kehlil (Tral), Kamaldan, Shopian, Kharwari (Shopian), Zampathri, Kellar (Rajpora), Arigo, Awdara (Kulgam), Telwani (Shangus), Bijbehara and
Kokernag.
The final phase of polling on October 8 also witnessed terrorist violence including a grenade attack by two-suspected fidayeen (suicide squad) of the Lashkar-e-Toiba at the Town Hall polling station No. 4 in Doda district. Two SF personnel were killed and four others and a voter were injured in this attack, which occurred early in the morning when polling had just commenced. An estimated 52 per cent of the approximately 450,000-strong electorate cast their votes in six constituencies of Doda district during this phase.
The J&K electorate gave a fractured mandate with no single party reaching the figure of 44 seats (in a 87-member Legislative Assembly) required to form a government. The National Conference, which had a two-thirds majority in the previous Assembly, could win only 28 seats and was thus unseated. The Congress party emerged as the second largest party with 20 seats, followed by the People's Democratic Party with 16, and CPI (M) with two and rest of the seats going to independents and others. After much delay, for the first time in the history of the State, a multi-party coalition government led by the PDP’s Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took office on November 2. A majority of the political parties, independent candidates, non-governmental groups, human rights activists, media (both domestic and foreign) and the international community, appreciated the credibility of the elections and the results that followed it.
Post-Elections
The multi-party coalition released a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) outlining the goals of the ruling coalition and the strategy that would be adopted to achieve those goals. Among others, the CMP mandates the assimilation of the Special Operations Group (SOG), alleged to be responsible for several human rights abuses in the State, into the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Secondly, the alliance has said it will terminate the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), and release alleged terrorists held for long period of time facing trial for minor offences. Along with this, compensation to the families of victims of terrorism is to be doubled, while the children of terrorists who have been killed will receive State support for their education. Finally, the CMP calls for an unconditional dialogue with terrorist groups.
There was no let up in terrorist violence after the new government assumed office on November 2. Approximately 119 civilians and 88 SF personnel were killed during the months of November and December. 38 persons, including 17 SF personnel, were killed in three separate terrorist strikes in a span of three days during the last week of November. Ghulam Mohiuddin Lone, elder brother of slain State Law Minister Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, was killed outside his residence in Sogam village, Lolab area of Kupwara district on December 5. On December 20, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Abdul Aziz Mir of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) was assassinated by an unidentified terrorist near Pampore town. Terrorist groups realizing that their threats to disrupt the democratic process in J&K had failed decided to attack the new coalition government. These high-intensity attacks also occurred against the backdrop of what is being perceived as a 'soft approach' adopted by the new coalition government headed by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Evidently, the decision not to implement the POTA, the proposal to merge the SOG into the J&K Police, and the release of some terrorists and secessionist leaders has substantially emboldened the terrorist groupings.
Furthermore, there was no systematic de-escalation in the levels of terrorist violence in J&K since the pre-election spurt - indeed, the beginning of the year - and monthly variations would largely be attributable to operational inefficiencies, extraordinary international pressure on Pakistan for brief periods of time, or other transient factors. 152 civilians and 120 SF personnel have been killed till the year-end since the completion of the electoral process in the State on October 8.
Towards implementing the CMP, the coalition government of Mufti Sayeed has enlarged a number of terrorists on bail, including, prominently, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) 'commander' Nazir Ahmad Sheikh and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) 'commander' Mohammad Ayub, as well as former terrorist and current secessionist Yasin Malik, chairman of the JKLF. The State government further announced in December 2002 that it had set up a five-member joint screening committee to decide on the release of political prisoners and militants. The State Government has also announced its decision to hold talks on the Kashmir issue "without any pre-conditions" with a mélange of groups actively pursuing the agenda of violence.
Chief Minister
Sh. Mufti Mohd Sayeed is the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.
A seasoned politician who played a significant role on the political stage of Jammu and Kashmir since he was initiated into politics in early 1950s.
He was elected to the State Assembly for the first time in 1962 and then
in 1967 following which he was inducted into the State Council of Ministers as a deputy minister for Agriculture and Cooperation.
But, he was soon to resign from the ministry as his first expression of dissent involving his political principles.
He was appointed a cabinet minister in 1972 in the government led by Syed Mir Qasim in which he held the important portfolios of Works, Urban Development and Education.
He was a member of the legislative council between 1972 and 1975.
Following the return to power of the late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1975 with
Congress support, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed headed the state unit of Indian National Congress.
He retained that post for twelve long years and became the symbol and focal point of a credible and issue based opposition in the state.
In 1986, Mufti Saheb moved to the
National politics and became a member of the Rajya Sabha. Same year, Rajiv Gandhi inducted him into his cabinet as the
Minister of Tourism. However, a year later he resigned to register his protest against the manner in which important decisions about the sensitive state were taken.
Keeping with his high moral standards he resigned the Rajya Sabha seat to which he was elected on Congress ticket.
He joined the Janata Dal led by VP Singh and successfully contested Lok Sabha election from Muzaffarnagar in 1989.
He was appointed the Union Home Minister in the V. P. Singh ministry.
In 1998, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Anantnag constituency as a Congress party candidate.
A year later, he launched J&K Peoples' Democratic Party, a regional political forum, which found almost an instant acceptability.
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed saw the young party taking center stage in Kashmir politics and blooming into a credible and authentic voice of its people.
His agenda of peace with dignity, balanced development and sincere expression of concerns of the people received a resounding endorsement from the electorate which is now reflected in the constitution of the new state cabinet.
IT
Policy
The IT Policy of the State Government has been specified vide Cabinent Decision on February 2, 2004.
The Policy has, inter
alia, specified that the IT Hardware, Software and IT Services sector shall be deemed as manufacturing activity for the purpose of incentives for the industry. All IT, hardware, software and service industries would be entitled to 'Industry' status.
Major Political Parties in
Jammu & Kashmir
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- J&K Peoples'
Democratic Party
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References:
http://www.satp.org/
http://jammukashmir.nic.in/
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