Mudslinging dominates Kashmir election campaign, peoples’ plight ignored

Srinagar: With campaigning for Lok Sabha elections in full swing in Kashmir, a different kind of storm is brewing as the air is thick with promises and accusations.

Top politicians of the region, vying for power, are engaged in a relentless game of mudslinging and even they have now started bringing religion into it. They carelessly hurl accusations at one another, their words dripping with venom and malice.

But amidst their verbal sparring, they conveniently avoided touching upon the issues that plagued the common people of Kashmir.

Last week former chief minister and National Conference vice-president, Omar Abdullah, during an election rally in central Kashmir’s Budgam district said that the “A team B team of BJP may get a certificate of election but they will not get a certificate of Jannat (paradise).”

He was referring to J&K People’s Conference (PC) led by Sajjad Lone, J&K Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) led by Ghulam Nabi Azad, who are perceived to be proxies of the BJP.

Reacting to Omar’s assertion, the PC General Secretary and influential Shia leader Imran Ansari said: “Mr Omar, look within. You are fortunate to have such generous political rivals. They refrain from questioning your religiosity. Elsewhere, questions would have been raised. We have never touched your personal life.”

Ansari was indirectly referring to Abdullah family’s long history of marrying outside their community. While Farooq Abdullah is married to Molly, a nurse of British origin, since 1968, Omar had married Payal Nath, a Hindu, with whom he separated in 2011. They have two sons Zamin and Zahir.

One of Omar’s sisters, Sara Abdullah was married to Congress leader Sachin Pilot in 2004, but they too were separated in 2023. They have two sons - Aran and Vihaa. His other sister, Hinna Abdullah, who lives in the UK, is also married outside her religion.

The NC and its arch-rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP) too have been involved in dirty politics in recent months accusing each other of being responsible for the present mess in Kashmir politics.

The two parties, who had come together in 2020 to form People’s Alliance for Gupkar Deceleration (PAGD) to restore erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 revoked in August 2019, have openly been targeting each other in public rallies and on social media.

In a recent statement Azad while blasting both the NC and the PDP said those who accuse him of being in cahoots with the BJP have “no right to say as they have themselves been in alliance with the saffron party in the past.”

But amidst this verbal sparring, these leaders conveniently avoid touching upon the issues that have plagued the common people of Kashmir. People are watching the spectacle unfold with a mix of frustration and resignation. They long for leaders who would address their pressing concerns – unemployment, infrastructure, and the ongoing conflict – but find themselves ignored amidst the political theatrics.