Kashmiri Pandits on backburner as BJP focuses on winning J&K

Will the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir finally bring Kashmiri Pandits to front and centre of the political discourse in the Valley? Despite BJP's ambitious plans of reaching out to the state and the much touted Mission 44 (winning 44 of the 87-member Assembly), it doesn't seem so.

A large number of Kashmiri Pandits have been living in exile since 1989, when they were forced to leave due to rising violence and spiralling threats. There are estimates of only 600 families left in Kashmir Valley, with about 1.5 lakh registered Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu. Some analysts and Kashmiri Pandit activists such as Rashneek Kher are hopeful that if the BJP fields more Kashmiri Pandits as candidates in the elections and ensures greater turnout by them as voters, they can be an important factor in at least ten Assembly constituencies - among them Amira Kadal and Habba Kadal in Srinagar, as well as Anantnag and Tral in South Kashmir.

Kher believes the presence or absence of Kashmiri Pandits from the state cabinet and important local bodies shows the intent of the government. "The Omar Abdullah government didn't have any Kashmiri Pandit in the Cabinet. It will be interesting to see how many Kashmiri Pandits the BJP gives tickets to in Kashmir because Kashmir is their stock issue," he adds.

But the redoubtable Naseer Ganai who reports on Kashmir for our sister publication, Mail Today, believes the BJP has altered its initial strategy. Kashmiri Pandits are no longer the sole focus - the strategy now is to bring more Muslims into the fold of the BJP. Ganai spoke to Dr Hina Bhat, vice president of the BJP's women's wing, and daughter of former National Conference leader, Muhammad Shafi Bhat, who told him: "In my constituency Amira Kadal, there are 1.50 lakh voters including 11,000 Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters. Our focus is on both the Muslim and Pandit vote. We cannot ignore Muslim voters,” said Bhat.

Ashok Koul, state general secretary of the BJP, echoed this when he told Ganai: “Don’t spread this wrong notion about the BJP that we are going to win in the Valley because of Kashmiri Pandits. We are going to win in the Valley as Kashmiri Muslims will vote for us.”

Bhat said the party is trying to reach out to all sections. “The cause of Kashmiri Pandits is important. But there are other issues as well and we cannot ignore them.” Sanjay Saraf of Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, who spends time in Habba Kadal constituency trying to woo Muslim voters of Srinagar, told Ganai that BJP has more Muslim faces in Kashmir and all its candidates in the Valley are likely to be Muslims.

Talks are said to be underway between Sajjad Lone, son of former Hurriyat leader who contested the North Srinagar Lok Sabha elections in 2009 as an independent. He is being persuaded to join the BJP. Farooq Khan, a former inspector general of police, who in the 90s had led the state’s anti-terrorist squad is at the forefront of BJP’s campaign in Jammu. Khalid Jehangir, a former journalist joined the BJP this year before Lok Sabha elections, at a rally in Jammu where Narendra Modi himself welcomed him. He is now the party’s Kashmir spokesperson.

Anupam Kher, actor and Kashmiri Pandit activist, who spoke out on Sunday for what he believes was wilful deletion of his appeal to remember the suffering of Kashmiri Pandits in exile at the Ummeed-e-Kashmir concert, says the community can make an impact on the elections only if they are allowed to vote, even if they reside outside the state.

"They tell us to return to the Valley but don't give us a blueprint for it. I'm a little sceptical, frankly, of how many Kashmiri Pandit families can and will be able to go back. The only solution is to dissolve Article 370. Life for both Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus will change."

He says he is not questioning the motives of the BJP - his wife Kirron is a party MP from Chandigarh and made an impassioned plea for Hindu widows in the last session of Parliament - but he would like to see at least the rehabilitation of Pandits living in refugee camps in Udhampur where the climate is more suitable.

But BJP is not interested in talking about Article 370 currently, clearly because it doesn't want to antagonise the Muslims it is trying to win over with its mantra of good governance and a potential campaign blitzkrieg by Prime Minister Modi. Perhaps it hopes after it wins the electoral battle, it will be better able to rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits.

For many Kashmiri Pandits who had to flee the Valley, leaving everything behind, their participation both as voters and candidates will signal their return to the cultural and political life of the state.