J&K: On the cusp of change, but challenges remain for political parties

The unstated premise is that existing political parties will now face a big challenge - both from locals and 'outsiders'

If the writing down of Article 370 that bestowed special status on Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) was greeted with anger, political parties in the region are incandescent at the Union government’s announcement that anyone ordinarily living in J&K can now enrol as a voter there.

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah has called an all-party meeting on Monday to address the issue and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the move is an extension of the “tactical rigging process” that started with the “unconstitutional and illegal delimitation process” in J&K.

“The sole aim of the Government of India is the complete disempowerment of the people of J&K,” said PDP Chief Spokesman Syed Suhail Bukhari.

Also Read | Outsiders registering as J-K voters last nail in coffin of democracy: PDP

Clearly, more than three years after the constitutional status of J&K was altered, anger and insecurity remain.

But while some things remain the same, a lot has changed since August 5, 2019, when J&K lost the protection of Article 370.
The landscape of J&K is altering fast.

Over 10 million tourists visited J&K in the past six months - the highest ever. No pilgrim has been attacked (the Vaishno Devi circuit used to represent fear and anxiety for armed forces and pilgrims alike), Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in Parliament.

The state government claims there is a 32 per cent decline in terrorist recruitment in the past three years - in 2021, 112 youth joined terrorist ranks, against 164 in 2020.

Cease-fire violations are down 90 per cent - 98 incidents reported in 2021, against 937 in 2020.

When ordinary Kashmiris felt they had no recourse to law or justice, they took to throwing stones: there is a massive decline in stone pelting and there hasn’t been a hartal (strike) in over a year.

The state government asserts this is a fallout of visible development. Corruption and leakage from development schemes has been largely eliminated by introducing digital scrutiny of projects: this means any citizen can view ongoing works online without any username or password and verify what he is seeing is actually what exists on the ground. The details of 38,000-plus works are available online.

 
JKPaySys is an online billing system adopted across the Union Territory. As on date, no bill, non-conforming to e-tendering, online allocation through Budget Estimation Allocation Monitoring System, and geotagging, is processed for payments. There are comprehensive new systems for land titling and registration.

Earlier, officials used to have sole custody of land records. Now, citizens can monitor and view the status of their land records online – in fact, more than 2.06 million citizens have viewed the status of their land records so far. Their feedback has led to correction and updation of land records.

Infrastructure is being added at a dizzying pace. The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation is developing five tunnels at a cost of $3.42 million. They will have all-weather access and will be ready by 2024. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line will become operational in 2023.

Private sector investment is pouring in. In March this year, the United Arab Emirates pledged to invest $391.8 million in J&K. This includes a shopping mall over 500,000 square feet in Srinagar.

Emirati multinational logistics company DP World is in the final stages of contracting for land to build an inland container terminal near Jammu.

Lulu Group is also scouting for land. “We are expecting a lot of proposals in the hospitality sector,” said a state government official.

But concerns remain.

At a press conference in Srinagar last week, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti sounded the alarm on the new system of voting where no domicile certificate would henceforth be needed to vote in any election and said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “only project was to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra, beginning with J&K”.

She charged that 2.5 million external voters had already been included for voting in the coming Assembly elections. The ultimate objective was to change the demographic character of the state from a Muslim majority one to a Hindu majority one.
State government officials say these fears are unfounded.

“Take a look at the electoral rolls of the Lok Sabha (LS) elections. To date, maybe 100 more people have been added. The real reason for all this wailing and breast-beating is that earlier, because of Article 370, Representation of the People Act, 1951, did not apply here. So there was a category of non-permanent residents. They were eligible to vote in LS elections, but not in Assembly elections. Now, because Article 370 is no longer valid, the need to produce evidence of domicile has also disappeared. Like elsewhere in India, if your name is on the J&K voter list, you are eligible to vote in all elections from here,” said an official.

The unstated premise is that existing political parties, so far in a comfortable place, will now face a big challenge – both from locals and ‘outsiders’.

J&K hosts a significant number of security personnel and migrant labourers. Several service sectors, which include the hospitality industry and manufacturing, are dominated by workforce from outside J&K. The majority of the highly-skilled labourers hired for bigger projects also come from outside the Valley.  

Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar said around 2.5 million new voters are expected to be enrolled in J&K.

“The projected population of J&K, who are 18-plus is around 9.8 million, while the number of enlisted voters is 7.6 million, according to the last voter list,” he said.

Assembly elections in J&K will likely be held only in 2023. But winning them will be the test for all parties.