SRINAGAR, Sept 17 (Askume) – Former Kashmiri independence activist Hafiz Mohammad Sikandar Malik will file his nomination papers for Jammu and Kashmir elections starting on Wednesday , the first time India has canceled an election in the region’s first vote since semi-autonomy.
The 37-year-old was jailed by authorities in 2019 on charges of “terrorism” and is currently free on bail. He was one of 10 candidates who advocated Kashmir’s independence from India in the local legislative elections.
The former separatists have vowed to try to force India to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomy if elected, but New Delhi has rejected those calls.
Both India and Pakistan claim full sovereignty over but partial control of Jammu and Kashmir, which the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought over for more than 75 years since independence from British colonial rule in 1947. It is the epicentre of hostilities.
In 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the region of some of its autonomy and placed it under New Delhi’s rule, saying it would bring peace after nearly three decades of fighting. Dozens of separatist leaders were detained and Modi sent in additional troops to prevent unrest.
Malik is contesting the election, scheduled to run until October, as an independent after New Delhi banned his Jamiat-e-Islami (JeI) party in 2019, accusing it of supporting terrorism in the disputed region.
Jamaat began boycotting elections in 1987, claiming they were rigged in favour of parties backed by New Delhi. The federal government has denied the allegations.
“Because we have not been active in politics for the last three decades, we have been ignored,” Malik told Askume, adding that his main goals were to get the ban on the party lifted and get people jailed on various charges.
“Since other parties are not raising these issues, we want to raise these issues and fight for these issues. If we are elected, we will work for the welfare of the people.”
The National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party, the two main regional rivals, have ruled Jammu and Kashmir together since 1947, except for a brief period of federal rule. Both sides also consider restoring some autonomy as their core commitment.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who like his father and grandfather has been chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, recently said that Kashmir needs to “get our identity back” by reversing the Modi government’s 2019 move.
But Modi’s home minister, Amit Shah, said this month that the region’s semi-autonomous status “is history and no one can restore it”.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has little influence in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. For the first time since 1996, it refrained from fielding candidates in this year’s Indian general election.
Its national rival, the Congress Party, has remained silent on the semi-autonomy issue and has formed an alliance with Abdullah’s National Conference party.
In an effort to unite against regional powers, the independents joined with the Awami Ittehad Party led by another prominent former separatist leader, Abdul Rashid al-Sheikh, which defeated the heavyweights in the general election.
He said that if Rashid and his allies win a majority, “I will go to New Delhi and sit in front of the Prime Minister’s (Modi’s) residence” and demand the restoration of Kashmir’s autonomy.
Another former Jamaat leader and independent candidate, Sair Ahmed Reshi, 42, said elections were the only way to fight injustice.
“I don’t want the names of the youth to be written on the graves, they are my voters now,” he said. “We will try to raise the issue and take our fight forward through voting.”
