Women spearheads of BJP’s charge in Kashmir
It’s freezing and overcast. In the flood-devastated neighbourhood of Indira Nagar in Sonawar assembly segment, BJP candidate Darakshan Andrabi is campaigning door to door. Will the lotus bloom in the valley for the first time, is the big question of these polls. Andrabi is fighting CM Omar Abdullah and confident of winning: “Omar is no competition. NC and PDP have sold our blood. Congress practises a use-and-throw policy with Muslims.
Kashmiri youth want a change from badshahi khandaani politics. BJP is the party of change.” BJP has pulled out all stops in a high-decibel campaign. Modi and Amit Shah posters dot street corners. Lotus flags flutter on rooftops. Some reports say that temporary outfits like People’s Republican Party are being floated to spilt Muslim votes. From BJP’s Ram Madhav, to Shahnawaz Husain to film personalities Anupam Kher and Ashok Pandit, all have descended on Srinagar to drive the BJP effort. “It’s incredible that even after the floods there’s so much positive energy,” Kher says.
BJP candidates in the valley are young, educated and business-oriented. Of the 46 Valley seats, they are contesting 33, 28 tickets have gone to Muslims, four to Pandits and one to a Sikh. Three high-profile women are in the fray: Urdu scholar and poet Darakshan Andrabi, 38, from Sonawar, software engineer Neelam Gash, 32, a Shia, from Zadibal and Hina Bhatt, 34, from Amira Kadal. The BJP spokesperson here is Khalid Jehangir, a former journalist, inducted by Modi at a Jammu rally in March, with the words: “Yeh mere mitra hain”.
“What has Article 370 given the Kashmiri,” asks Jehangir. “A class of rajas who rule through fear and live in Gupkar Road mansions while the public live in slums.” Neelam worked for a Gurgaon software company and joined BJP because she sees it as a party that can bring “revolution”. “The youth have borne the brunt of militancy. There’s depression here, drug addiction, desperation. BJP can change all that.” In white salwar-kameez, Darakshan weaves through black pools of mud, past damaged homes. Yet, the beauty and innocence of youthful Kashmiri faces rise in contrast to the dilapidation everywhere.
“The floods have set us back 100 years,” rues Darakshan, “water reached two fl oors. Did anyone from the government help? It was the Army. Without them, we would’ve been finished.” Is it a contradiction for a Muslim to be a BJP candidate in the valley? “Does a maulana run Congress?” Darakshan snaps. “Congress is ruled by Hindus, so is BJP. What’s the difference? After the Kishtwar riots did everyone blame Omar Abdullah? Modiji couldn’t have had anything to do with the Gujarat riots, no CM wants riots.”
Will the BJP candidates leave the party if they lose? “I’m a true Muslim. Islam has taught me humanism and secularism. If I was an opportunist I’d have joined PDP. I’ll never leave BJP. BJP meri ma hai,” Darakshan says.
“When people ask me if BJP can bring change, I say I’m the change,” says Neelam. She talks of the need for industry and BPOs. “PDP and Congress say hamein Kashmiri CM chahiye. But yeh Kashmiri CM hamaare liye kya kiya hai? Modi, she says, inspired her because of the prohibition in force in Gujarat. “I appreciate that. Islam is against alcohol. Gujarat is safe for women. I’d like to see the same conditions across India.”
Andrabi says a lot depends on whether Modi delivers a Kashmir package. “I want to see jannat here. I want tourism and chahal pahal, no more maara maari.” Youngsters cluster around Andrabi. Each has a story of woe. Flood-hit families got a pittance of Rs 3,800 each. Those who lost homes got Rs 75,000. Hopes are now fixed on a “Modi scheme” for flood rehabilitation. BJP workers are young and thirsting for a better life. One of Andrabi’s team, Inayat, got a job at the Taj Hotel but couldn’t report for duty as he kept getting stopped by police on his way to work.
“In the rest of India, log humein shaq ki nazar se dekhte hain. We can’t rent flats in Delhi or Mumbai. In Kashmir we’ve no livelihood. What do we do,” Inayat asks. Most BJP candidates feel they’re risking their lives, contesting. Andrabi says many call her gaddaar. Her parents worry for her. “The government treats us like untouchables. Barring two PSOs we’ve no protection.” She shows a report in a local daily quoting Lashkar saying they’ll change “har har Modi to maar hi maar Modi.” BJP believes even a single seat in the valley will make history. “I want to be alive on the day India gets a Kashmiri PM,” Andrabi
