New Delhi: As he unfurled the Indian flag at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Republic Day last year, Suhail Khan, president of the J&K Awami Aawaz Party, promised to make Kashmir the “jewel of crown for the nation”.
“I urge all youth of Jammu and Kashmir to take the pledge on this Republic Day to make our country proud on the world stage,” he said in a speech, surrounded by supporters and the press.
Just over a year later, Khan, and two other leaders of the party, general secretary Nadeem Shafi and member Umar Majeed Wani were arrested, ironically, for “anti-national” remarks.
The arrest, made Thursday, came after Khan addressed a press conference in which he declared that he had “decided to fight for freedom”.
“Our party was formed by the army. I have hoisted the tricolor. But when I saw atrocities on common people, I decided to fight for freedom,” Khan said at the press conference he addressed with the other two Wednesday.
Targeting the Jammu and Kashmir administration over its ongoing demolition drive, he said at the press conference: “They just say that bulldozers won’t demolish homes of the poor. In fact, they were first rolled over the poor. Their agenda is to run bulldozers over Kashmiris. This has been happening to Muslims for the past two years”.
Besides charges of “anti-national” statements, Srinagar Police have accused the three leaders of intimidating the media.
“Three miscreants namely Suhail Khan, Nadeem Shafi Rather & Umar Majeed Wani arrested,” Srinagar Police said on Twitter. “They were self-styled leaders and had threatened & intimidated media persons, gave anti-national byte yesterday in a press conference. FIR no 05/2023 in relevant sections registered in Kothibagh PS.”
ThePrint tried reaching the party’s office in Srinagar through phone calls and emails. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
The Awami Aawaz Party is one of eight new parties formed in the state since 2019, the year when Article 370 — a constitutional provision that, along with Article 35, gave special status to Kashmir — was read down.
Besides this one, the Election Commission of India has registered six new parties between 20019 and 2022 — the Jammu & Kashmir Apni Party, a party founded by former PDP leader Syed Altaf Bukhari; Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Movement, a now-defunct party founded by bureaucrat Shah Faesal; and lesser-known parties such as National Awami United Party; National Democratic Party (Indian), Aman Aur Shanti Tehreek-e-Jammu & Kashmir; Voice of Labour Party (Jammu & Kashmir); and Haq Insaaf Party.
Meanwhile, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit the Congress in August 2022, floated his own outfit, the Democratic Azad Party, last September.
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From nationalists to ‘anti-nationals’
Wednesday’s press conference was a surprising departure from the Awami Aawaz Party’s previously stated views, especially since it has previously attacked mainstream parties such as National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, hoisted national flags at various places in the Valley, and has held protests against targeted killings by militants.
In his response to the development, National Conference’s working president called it “another army experiment gone rogue”.
Targeting the administration, Omar Abdullah wrote, “Yesterday’s paid nationalists are today’s ‘freedom fighters’. Another army experiment gone rogue!”
Indeed, on its website, the Awami Aawaz Party strives to make its nationalist credentials clear.
“Party members have affirmed to strive for National integration, peace, brotherhood, communal harmony, development and all other issues for the betterment of inhabitants of Jammu Kashmir without consideration of caste, creed, region, religion, sex color and so on,” the party’s website says.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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