Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article by the Author are his personal, and do not in any way represent the views of Pir Panjal Post.
Ghulam Server Shaheen
In democracy, it is always expected by the unprivileged communities that the socio-economic reforms would be done through political means, for which it is said that democracy is the government of the people. In other words, the voice of the individual, his community, and regions are central factors in getting elected, represented, and raised in the house of the state assembly or parliament. Contrary (though usually in Indian politics), Pir Panjal's socio-economic status has remained at the periphery and static since independence. Samdish Unfiltered (YouTube Channel) YouTuber's recent ground report (https://youtu.be/0qEyiDTv18Y?si=SHPZfmJI2vhGQRng) has partially covered, to an extent, the disparities of backward and isolated areas, though he covered it from the valley's villages. If it had been covered here in Pir Panjal by any outsider (though ironically, it has not been covered by anyone until now), he would have literally been shocked about the topmost developed UT's (J&K) sub-province in such a plight, which brings back to the era of pre-modernization.
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Although geographically lying at high altitudes, the Pir Panjal connotation refers to the northwest of J&K, in which roughly two districts (Poonch and Rajouri) are situated and inhabited by many socio-religious communities, with multiple languages and dialects, prominent among all Gujjar/Goujri and Paharis. The majority population is Muslim. It shares its geographical and demographical proximities with the greater subcontinent and very little (before 1947) with India in general and J&K. After the accession of J&K with India on the 26th of October 1947, though initially it showed some unsuccessful resentment, the following tribal invasion of the 1947s led to its division between India and Pakistan, with the greater part going to PoK. Thus, it divided the socio-economic ecosystem and political landscape, which affected it so badly that the imprints are still seen.
Ideally, with each passing term of assemblies at the center (Lok Sabha) or in different states, along with rapid development and progression meeting up expectations, what the voters generally demand are advanced and progressive goals from the contesting entities/parties. For example, one may demand clean water and sanitation, electricity for 24×7, renovated roads with thick blacktopping, more web connectivity in remaining villages/towns, or an extension of two to three lane highways, two or three government model schools in each village with improvements in quality education in existing schools, massive development in hospitalization infrastructure and machinery with quality staff, improvement in quality of life, development of human skills and innovation with more opportunities, job security, and reduction in inequalities and injustice, etc. But in the rural areas of Pir Panjal, a just opposite phenomenon can be observed to which I belong. What we request, not expect, from our leadership at the center and state level is a minimum of water in which our livestock could survive, at least two to four hours of electricity supply in a day, a link or tractor road to easily fetch heavy weights in hilly regions and for ploughing, a school building/renovation of existing ruins with one permanent teacher where our children can get elementary education at least and can also be protected from hot/cold weather, a dispensary of two rooms instead of existing rented home camps, and a few doctors with proper beds and sanitation in sub-hospitals. In every election season, we begged for it, and every time we have been manipulated and divided from our issues; therefore, we never expected to get these basic, very basic facilities and necessities of life. My people never demanded more than things of survival like minimum water, electricity, tractor roads, schools, and healthcare, but they have never been assured or intended by the ruling party and their candidates to think upon it. What we are being assured is the so-called protection of caste, cult, community, and region. Elected representatives have never been seen after the election season and have never even been included in their rhetoric about these basic facilities, along with the development of tourism, job opportunities, and inequalities, etc.
Through the prism of manifestoes 2024: Why has the state government, for decades, not provided these amenities to us despite the massive turnout in every state or parliamentary election from Pir Panjal? Why have the manifestoes of every party in each election remained urban-centric, like Jammu or Srinagar, and never paid special attention (like this year too) to every region specifically due to its own problems, like Pir Panjal? How much development and ease of business on Mughal Road can be availed throughout the year? Has anything been said about this in the manifesto? (The chicken neck between Kashmir and Pir Panjal.) Has any further plan been highlighted in manifestoes for a railway tunnel or an alternative direct route with Jammu or Srinagar? When will the condition of NH-144 be improved into a real national highway so that road accidents can be expected to be reduced? How much funding has been promised to be allocated for BGSBU in comparison to other state universities? How many colleges for medical and engineering have been given in the past or been included in this year’s manifestoes? What about the existing polytechnic colleges, which have nothing more than small building huts? When will GMC Rajouri be like Sora Hospital or GMC Jammu? And when will the sub-hospitals of Poonch be provided enough staff and machinery so that patients who could recover with proper care in the early stage don’t die on the way to Jammu because it takes 7-8 hours to reach there? Under the SDGs goals and JJM, has any political party taken into consideration providing a tap with minimum water in every household and proper water supply in the villages of Poonch and Rajouri? Did the parties' manifestoes talk about Digital India's service facilities for this region (where existing infrastructure, network, and electricity are not enough even for calling and chatting), whose more than 60% of students’ studies depend online and on proper electricity? Apart from this, have they mentioned tourism, sports, and protection and implementation of FRA specifically? Have they mentioned funds allocation or employment generation in tourism and sports sectors at local levels? The answer is ironically very meager, if not none! We have been ignored, neglected, and not taken into consideration other than as a voting bank, as they have been doing for decades.
In the history of electoral politics of the state in general and Pir Panjal in particular, the dominant political parties were INC, NC, and later PDP. But Pir Panjal's politics has remained a personality cult-centric rather than party- or policy-centric. Therefore, two questions arise proportional to each other. First, why have the state or central political parties failed to inculcate the region and its people in their own ambit and sphere of democratic essence? Or did they intentionally prefer a status quo approach and just use every election to show the percentage of electoral participation by using that personality/individual cult to achieve a greater percentage of voting overall (as in the 80s onwards, which remained very low in the valley) at the cost of the candidate's free will for gaining loyalty and bringing him into confidentiality for many reasons? Second, despite being influential at state and national levels, why have most of the leaders ignored the developmental map for the entire region and just followed or remained loyal to the parties as they were launched on the party's terms rather than as public representatives? If the answers to both questions are yes, and of course yes, then we have been used as political stooges who always crumbled under deep caste, cult, community, and regional politics and were not factors in state politics for any political parties and their candidates, to whom they owe till now.
The new trending/emerging politics of Pir Panjal is hugely focused on social media campaigns, like editing and using reels to capture the larger attention of the public, unethically editing and trolling opposing groups to build a false narrative, and showing their own greater wave with the help of the latest editing tools, propaganda, and huge show-off without having an alternative and progressive roadmap for the region. In a context of very poor and visionless leadership and utter negligence from state-ruled parties and the absence of a local leadership cadre in these parties, BJP's steady wave has engulfed the region rapidly since the abrogation of 370.
People do not know the ideologies of parties—right, left, or center—nor do they pertain to or bother to know them. They joined and are still joining because of heavy disappointment and dissatisfaction with earlier ruling regimes and optimism about the BJP's affirmative actions for all-around development.
Oh, dear contestants and political parties! I have seen the craziness of people since the first day of this election season. This, of course, is the democratization vibes echoing in the hills across the Pir Panjal, but some uncounted and discredited efforts of people, from local to social media and on the ground, have never paid off. They shed their blood, break social chains, and make hostile relations with their siblings’ other relatives and their own neighbors for you, even though you give them nothing more than a roadshow after every five years. Many are so pessimistic that they believe it is nothing more than seasonal havoc that comes and goes after every five years, without imbibing and permeating into the region and its people with a real essence of democratization and a people-centric approach.
The author is a research scholar of Modern Indian History at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, and belongs to Surankote, Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir.