Jamaat-e-Islami: Jammu & Kashmir
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
A backgrounder
As of 2024 Oct
Deeptiman Tiwary, Oct 9, 2024: The Indian Express
The Jamaat-e-Islami, touted as the X factor in the Jammu and Kashmir polls this year, has performed miserably. Returning to electoral politics after almost four decades, eight of the outfit’s 10 candidates, who contested as independents, have lost their deposits. Jamaat candidate from Sopore Manzoor Ahmed Kaloo has secured only 406 votes. Sopore was once the bastion of Hurriyat leader the Late Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Jamaat’s move to enter the electoral fray after the 1987 elections had been both welcomed and criticised — as broadbasing of electoral politics in Kashmir, and as cutting into anti-BJP votes respectively.
In its defeat, however, Jamaat is repeating history. It has never been a formidable political force in Kashmir on its own.
A look at electoral data since it began participating in the electoral process in the early 70s shows it was never able to translate its socio-cultural influence into votes. Barring the 1987 elections — when it contested the Assembly polls with more than 16 organisations under the banner of Muslim United Front (MUF) and the alliance notched up over 30% votes despite allegations of the election being heavily rigged — its vote share never reached even double digits on its own.
Inception of Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir
Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir has its roots in Islamic reformist movements in Kashmir in the late nineteenth century, when Jammu and Kashmir was under Dogra rule. One of the pioneers during this phase was the Mirwaiz of Kashmir, Maulana Rasul Shah, who formed the Anjuman Nusrat ul-Islam in 1899. It aimed to impart both modern and Islamic education, and eliminate what were seen as un-Islamic “innovations” and superstitions in popular Sufi practices.
The Jamaat took shape in an atmosphere of disillusionment with the secular politics of the National Conference and the Muslim nationalism advocated by the Muslim Conference, and pitched for Kashmir’s integration with Pakistan after the Partition. It was with this background that the Jamaat later galvanised public opinion against the politics of the National Conference.
Political Foray
Despite its reservations about Kashmir being part of India, the Jamaat initially exhibited faith in the Indian democratic process and sponsored some candidates for the 1969 local panchayat elections. Some of its candidates even won. It then participated in the 1971 Lok Sabha elections but failed to win any seat.
It made its Assembly polls debut in 1972, fielding 22 candidates (J&K then had 75 seats), of which five won. Its candidates polled a total of 7% votes. However, on the seats Jamaat contested, it secured almost 24% votes. It was the runner-up on as many as nine seats. Among the key seats it stood second in were Bandipora, Harl, Sonawari, Kangan, Ganderbal and Amirakadal.
However, this was a period of tremendous political upheaval in J&K. Kashmir’s tallest leader and first PM, Sheikh Abdullah, had been jailed despite his party sweeping elections in 1951, 1957 and 1962. It is said that the NC was then forced to merge with the Congress, and the 1967 polls saw Congress win 61 of 75 seats. Abdullah was released later that year.
Thus the 1972 polls virtually had no opposition other than the Jamaat and Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), with the latter largely operating in the Jammu region. BJS itself contested 32 seats but managed to win only three with a total voteshare of around 10%. Its voteshare in the seats it contested (23%) was lower than the Jamaat’s (24%). It, however, stood second in 14 seats.
To put matters in perspective, the highest number of votes (27%) after the Congress (55%) were secured by independents who also stood second in 34 seats.
In most seats the Jamaat stood second in, the margins of defeat were significant. For example, in Sonawari seat, where Jamaat came second behind Congress, it secured only 10% votes against the latter’s 85%. However, it lost Amirakadal by a slender margin of 72 votes.
The Slide
By the 1977 polls, the Abdullah-Indira accord had taken shape and the NC was a separate political party once again. In these polls, the NC again emerged as the biggest party, winning 47 seats, followed by the Janata Party (13) and the Congress (11). The Jamaat saw a sharp decline in its seats and vote share.
Contesting 19 seats, it secured victory in only one, with Syed Ali Shah Geelani retaining his Sopore seat. Its total voteshare fell from 7% in 1972 to just 4%, while its vote share in seats it contested also declined to just 13%. It stood the runner-up in only five seats this time.
Its candidates stood second in Baramulla, Shopian, Pulwama and Hom Shali Bugh but were defeated by significant margins. Only in Kulgam, where it stood second, it secured a decent share of votes at 30%, to the winner’s 42%.
The 1983 elections turned out to be worse for the Jamaat. While NC almost retained its previous seats tally and voteshare and Congress improved them, Jamaat could not win a single of the 26 seats it contested even though it retained its vote share of almost 4%. In the seats it contested, however, its voteshare fell to 11%. It stood second in constituencies such Kulgam, Shopian, Baramulla, and Sopore.
The last hurrah
The 1987 elections, which have been widely considered to be rigged in favour of an unpopular NC then, saw MUF emerge as a major political force. Though the alliance won only four seats, it had a voteshare of over 30%.
It has been argued that had the elections not been rigged, the MUF would have swept the polls. These were the last elections that the Jamaat contested, before entering electoral fray this year. The rigging of these elections is believed to have given rise to militancy in Kashmir, with many MUF candidates who were allegedly forced to cede polls going on to become separatists or militants.
The two key figures who contested these polls as MUF candidates were Syed Ali Shah Gilani and Mohammed Yousuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin. While Gilani won his Sopore seat, Salahuddin lost by over 4,000 votes from Amirakadal. It was said Salahuddin was declared the loser after being in the lead with a significant margin through the whole day of counting. His poll manager then was Yasin Malik.
While Gilani went on to become the chief of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Salahuddin and Malik became militants. Salahuddin is currently the chief of United Jihad Council, which also controls the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
