'Jamaat Wants To Be Nitish, Naidu In Kashmir'

'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'

IMAGE: Sayar Ahmed Reshi, the Jamaat-backed Independent candidate from Kulgam. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com

It does not have an office in Kashmir. Neither does it have any office-bearer in Kashmir.

The organisation was banned across Kashmir by the Union government after the Pulwama attack of February 2019 in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed.

Its president Abdul Hamid Fayaz is in jail.

Yet, 10 Independent candidates in the Kashmir elections do not shy away from declaring they are backed by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami.

Asked how he is supported by the Jamaat-e-Islami when the party is outlawed in India, Sayar Ahmed Reshi, an Independent candidate from the Kulgam assembly seat, says, "It is our misfortune that the Jamaat got banned. The Constitution of India paves the way to get out of such a ban and contest elections so we chose to take that independent path. Now, we are hoping that the ban will be lifted on us after the elections."

Asked if it meant the Jamaat, which was known for its pro-Pakistan and anti-elections stance, now swears by the Constitution of India, Reshi says, "Jamaat never boycotted the elections, but the Hurriyat Conference boycotted it. We believe 101 percent in the Indian Constitution. We kept out of elections because the Kashmir elections were rigged in 1987. We lost trust in Indian democracy then."

Asked what made Jamaat-backed Independent candidates believe in Indian democracy again, Reshi says, "The 2024 general elections. We believe now that India conducts free and fair elections and we saw that in the 2024 general elections. Therefore, we felt that we too should jump into the fray."

Nine other Independent candidates supported by the Jamaat are contesting the assembly election in Kashmir -- from Devsar, Zainpora, Pulwama, Beerwah, Langate, Sopore, Baramulla, Bandipore and Rafiabad.

Terror accused Hafiz Mohammad Sikandar Malik, a Jamaat-backed Independent candidate from Bandipore who is out on bail, wears an ankle electronic monitor so that the police can track his movements.

Asked what difference it will make as the Jamaat is contesting only 10 seats and cannot get its nominees elected chief minister, Shamim Dar, an unofficial Jamaat advisor, concedes, "Jamaat backed Independent candidates won't be able to form a government for sure as you need 45 seats for a majority. But yes, we can become the Nitish Kumar or Chandrababu Naidu of the Jammu Kashmir assembly. We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support."

Jamaat leaders were once a force to reckon with in the Jammu and Kashmir political arena.

In 1987, the Jamaat felt that the assembly elections were rigged by the Rajiv Gandhi government in New Delhi so that Farooq Abdullah's National Conference could form a government in Srinagar.

IMAGE: Jamaat-backed Independent candidate Talat Majid cast his vote for the first time in Pulwama, September 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

One of the Jamaat's losers in that election, Mohammad Yusuf Shah, went on to head the terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen. Intelligence agencies know him better by his assumed name, Syed Salahuddin.

Another leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, became part of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

Awami Ittehad Party chief Engineer Rashid has openly called on Kashmiris to support Jamaat-backed Independent candidates and announced that he will tell his party members to support Jamaat candidates in the elections.

The Awami Ittehad Party and Jamaat in alliance or friendly contests are contesting all 47 seats in the Kashmir Valley.

This alliance has sent jitters in the ranks of the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party leadership as they fear these Independent candidates will impact their vote banks.

PDP President Mehbooba Mufti attacked Jamat-backed Independent candidates at a rally in Pulwama last week, saying, 'The real Jamaat leaders are behind bars. If the Government of India wants the real Jamaat-e-Islami to contest elections, then it must lift the ban imposed on the Jamaat.'

IMAGE: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti criticised the tie-up between the Awami Ittehad Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami at a media interaction in Anantnag, September 16, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The NC and PDP believe that the AIP and Jamaat will damage their chances and it will be advantage BJP in Jammu and Kashmir because it could win a majority of seats in Jammu, which has 43 out of 90 seats in the assembly.

Another 5 MLAs can come from the lieutenant governor's quota: The LG has been bestowed the right to nominate 5 individuals who can also vote during a vote of confidence.

Asked to comment on Mehbooba's statement, Reshi says, The Jamaat-e-Islami party in Kashmir is not a proxy of the BJP."

"See the irony," Reshi adds, "These parties spoke in favour of the Jamaat when the BJP government banned us. Now when we are contesting independently, the same parties are calling us BJP agents. Kashmiri voters are mature politically now. They will not fall for such lies."

Asked if militancy will return to Kashmir, Reshi says, "No, it will not make a comeback. The rigging of the 1987 elections led to militancy. Emotions were exploited. The National Conference is the original sinner of militancy in Kashmir. Graveyards of Kashmir will tell this truth. If no rigging of elections had taken place, then the Jamaat would have had its own chief minister in 1987."

Asked if the Jamaat was not responsible for driving Kashmiri Pandits out of the Valley in January 1990, Reshi says, "We gave aazan in masjids for sure, but that does not mean we drove Kashmiri Pandits out of Kashmir. On the contrary, Jamaat has always protected Kashmiri Pandits."

"The shawl I wear during election rallies," says Reshi, "was presented to me by a Kashmiri Pandit boy from Kulgam."