In the ongoing Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the parties in their bid to woo voters have started seeding mutually hostile narratives that will leave serious consequences in its trail for the people in this Union Territory . These will have serious ramifications for the rest of the country .
Politicians will be long gone home after the polls but the people will have to bear the consequences of their toxic language used in the electioneering . It happens in elections as was seen in Lok Sabha polls when the country heard balderdash
Jammu and Kashmir is different , it’s highly sensitive place , prone to conflicts from within and external forces . The history since late 1980s bears a testimony to this fact. It is a complicated place where words matter more than actions and at times actions give rise to semantics that harm the national interest in the long run.
There has been a surge in the crude rhetoric and personal attacks , challenging the mental state of some of the leaders . Extreme demonization of the political rivals may deliver some electoral gains in the first election in a decade in this territory, but the long-term consequences are not being sighted .
All political parties fight elections to win and form the government. They use their narratives as per their strategies , eulogizing their achievements while berating rivals . Questions are raised about their manifestoes and political positioning. That is given .
But in Jammu and Kashmir heightened sensitivities are involved . Hurting these sensitivities, as it happened during 1983 when J&K witnessed highly polarized and ugly elections , leave polity permanently divided .
BJP started its campaign much before the August 16 announcement of polls as being the ruling party it knew beforehand the probable schedule of the polls . Its theme was familiar , attack Nehru-Gandhi dynasty , and in Kashmir it is targeted for what it did in 1947-48 , leaving many parts of the princely state uncaptured. These parts are now with Pakistan . The party also dragged National Conference of the Abdullah and PDP of Mufti families to its line of fire, blaming all the three families for the death and destruction that Kashmir witnessed and experienced for well over 30 years , leaving thousands dead.
So far so good. But now this campaign is bursting at seams on the demonization track ; these parties and their leaders are dubbed as henchmen of Pakistan , out to destroy peace and tranquility reintroduced to Kashmir after decades of violence, attributed to the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 . It is a statement of facts, as it was only after this momentous decision of the Government of India that counter-terrorism operations gained momentum and delivered peace dividends .
The saffron party, however , is reflecting less time on on its achievements , more on demonizing three families and blames them for all the ills plaguing Jammu and Kashmir. In election times, it may suit BJP not only in Hindu dominated Jammu region of this UT where from it is hoping to win a bulk of 43 seats – it had won 25 seats in the last Assembly polls in 2014 . It is using the same rhetoric to appeal to the voters in the rest of the country , where it has built an image of being a saviour of Kashmir . It is hoping to cash on this in Haryana , which goes to polls on October 5 , and also in the upcoming polls in in the states of Maharashtra and Jharkhand Perhaps , it is ignoring the fact that within J&K, the sunshine moment of abrogation of Article 370 is fading .
In response to BJP’s campaign National Conference and PDP have launched scathing attacks on the saffron party’s leadership They term BJP that believes in dividing communities on religious lines and for demoting J&K from state to UT.
This narrative is seeding new ideas among Muslims in the Valley as they feel that BJP rule despite giving respite from the violent and dark days of the past , is ignoring the identity and dignity of the people . It is a quite sensitive issue
The fear is that the divisive narrative of all these parties will have its impact after the elections are over. Jammu and Kashmir has seen it in the past, and unfortunately the parties have learnt no lessons.
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