SRINAGAR: Former militants , separatists , and members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami , and their relatives ran as independent candidates or on party tickets in J&K’s first assembly elections in 10 years. No one won and many lost their security deposits.
All the ten former members of Jamaat were defeated, including the outlawed outfit’s former general secretary Sayar Ahmad Reshi from Kulgam, who lost to CPM’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami contesting for a fifth consecutive term. Tarigami polled 33,634 votes to Reshi’s 25,796.
In neighbouring Pulwama, Jamaat-supported Talat Majid Alie lost to PDP’s Waheed Para. “This is the start of the process. We had limited time for campaigning, but I believe we can make a difference in the future,” Alie said, attributing his loss to a lack of support for Jamaat.
The former militants and separatists had banded together to form a political group named Tahreek-e-Awam to contest the elections. The group fielded independents in Pulwama, Kulgam, Zainapora, and Devsar in south Kashmir, and Beerwah, Langate, Bandipora, Baramulla, Sopore, and Rafiabad in the north.
In Sopore, Ajaz Ahmad Guru, brother of Afzal Guru — hanged in 2013 for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack — contested as an independent and lost.
Another well-known name is separatist cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, also known as Sarjan Barkati, currently imprisoned in Srinagar on antinational charges related to organising stone-throwing protests in 2016 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
Known as the “Kashmiri Pied Piper” for his separatist slogans, Barkati lost to NC’s Omar Abdullah in Ganderbal, and barely managed to save his deposit in Beerwah.
Initially, 15 candidates tied to Jamaat had entered the fray, but five of them backed out. This marked a notable shift towards mainstream political participation, moving away from the separatist boycotts that have dominated polls during three decades of militancy.
Another prominent former separatist Zaffar Habib Dar, linked to Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, who ran as a candidate for J&K Apni Party in Srinagar’s Central Shalteng and lost to J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra. He saw participation in the democratic process as the key to resolving the issues in an altered political scenario since the abrogation of Article 370 in Aug 2019 and the bifurcation of the region into Union territories — J&K and Ladakh.
“We can solve problems only through the electoral process. Everyone should participate in the electoral process by casting their vote,” Dar said.
JKLF ex-commander Mohammad Farooq Khan, also known as Saifullah, ran on a Samajwadi Party ticket from Habbakadal constituency and lost to Shamim Firdous of NC. Khan was among the first militants in 1989 to cross over to PoK for arms training. He regretted his decision. “That time everyone picked up the gun. We were misguided by Pakistan agents in Kashmir,” Khan said.
After a year of militancy, he surrendered to police and spent nearly five years in jail. Khan ran in the 2019 municipal elections on a BJP ticket.
Jamaat participated in elections until 1987. It had Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani serve as an MLA for three terms before the assembly was dissolved in 1990 because of militancy.
All the ten former members of Jamaat were defeated, including the outlawed outfit’s former general secretary Sayar Ahmad Reshi from Kulgam, who lost to CPM’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami contesting for a fifth consecutive term. Tarigami polled 33,634 votes to Reshi’s 25,796.
In neighbouring Pulwama, Jamaat-supported Talat Majid Alie lost to PDP’s Waheed Para. “This is the start of the process. We had limited time for campaigning, but I believe we can make a difference in the future,” Alie said, attributing his loss to a lack of support for Jamaat.
The former militants and separatists had banded together to form a political group named Tahreek-e-Awam to contest the elections. The group fielded independents in Pulwama, Kulgam, Zainapora, and Devsar in south Kashmir, and Beerwah, Langate, Bandipora, Baramulla, Sopore, and Rafiabad in the north.
In Sopore, Ajaz Ahmad Guru, brother of Afzal Guru — hanged in 2013 for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack — contested as an independent and lost.
Another well-known name is separatist cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, also known as Sarjan Barkati, currently imprisoned in Srinagar on antinational charges related to organising stone-throwing protests in 2016 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
Known as the “Kashmiri Pied Piper” for his separatist slogans, Barkati lost to NC’s Omar Abdullah in Ganderbal, and barely managed to save his deposit in Beerwah.
Initially, 15 candidates tied to Jamaat had entered the fray, but five of them backed out. This marked a notable shift towards mainstream political participation, moving away from the separatist boycotts that have dominated polls during three decades of militancy.
Another prominent former separatist Zaffar Habib Dar, linked to Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, who ran as a candidate for J&K Apni Party in Srinagar’s Central Shalteng and lost to J&K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra. He saw participation in the democratic process as the key to resolving the issues in an altered political scenario since the abrogation of Article 370 in Aug 2019 and the bifurcation of the region into Union territories — J&K and Ladakh.
“We can solve problems only through the electoral process. Everyone should participate in the electoral process by casting their vote,” Dar said.
JKLF ex-commander Mohammad Farooq Khan, also known as Saifullah, ran on a Samajwadi Party ticket from Habbakadal constituency and lost to Shamim Firdous of NC. Khan was among the first militants in 1989 to cross over to PoK for arms training. He regretted his decision. “That time everyone picked up the gun. We were misguided by Pakistan agents in Kashmir,” Khan said.
After a year of militancy, he surrendered to police and spent nearly five years in jail. Khan ran in the 2019 municipal elections on a BJP ticket.
Jamaat participated in elections until 1987. It had Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani serve as an MLA for three terms before the assembly was dissolved in 1990 because of militancy.
