SRINAGAR: After the abrogation of Article 370, the militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir dropped significantly and separatist politics was pushed back with the arrest of separatist leaders and workers. However, if the current scenario is any indication, it’d seem soft separatist politics is making a comeback in the run-up to the first Assembly polls in J&K post scrapping of special status.
MP Er Rashid, who was released from over five years of detention from Tihar jail on Wednesday on interim bail by Delhi court, is the most vocal mainstream leader to talk about the Kashmir issue.
In his speeches since his release, Rashid, who was detained by NIA in a terror funding case in August 2019 and lodged in Tihar jail, has been calling for the resolution of Kashmir issue. “My struggle is not for power or limited to Article 370 but for the resolution of Kashmir issue, which is in the interest of people of the subcontinent,” he said.
The focus of his speeches in rallies is on the resolution of Kashmir issue amidst slogans like “Jail ka badla vote se and Tihar ka badla vote se, (avenge jail with vote, Tihar with vote).”
Like Er Rashid, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti is also playing up soft separatist call although she is not contesting the polls. PDP in its manifesto has advocated diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan, emphasizing conflict resolution, confidence-building measures, and regional cooperation.
It has also advocated for establishing full connectivity across the LoC for trade and social exchange and striving for the opening of old traditional trade routes to central and south Asia through J&K.
J&K’s grand old party National Conference has promised to encourage dialogue between India and Pakistan and strive for full implementation of the Autonomy Resolution passed by the J&K Assembly in 2000, which was rejected by then BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Such is the prevalence of “soft separatist” sentiment that Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone, who was minister in the erstwhile BJP-PDP minister from the BJP quota, chanted anti-Modi and anti-BJP slogans while filing nomination papers on Thursday.
A political analyst said all mainstream parties have fought Assembly polls since eruption of militancy on a “soft separatist” plank. “What did Er Rashid’s win in parliamentary election convey? Why did people vote for him? It was for sentiment and parties want to cash in on this sentiment,” he said.
